Boom Poker

Poker Setup

2010-09-12T01:01:00.001+05:30

I would post my graph for September so far, but it is easier to describe - imagine a whole lot of nothingness. Yup, I haven't played a single hand of poker this month and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have also begun staking someone and am looking to take on serious, long-term, and dedicated poker players who want to crush super turbos and have a lot of time on their hands. Leave a comment if you want to be staked and coached.

I am moving to London in 2 days and have pretty much decided to get a completely new and awesome poker setup. Right now, I play with a crappy laptop and a 24 inch monitor. Here is a to-do list of things to buy when I reach London:

1. 15 inch Macbook Pro with upgrades to speed

2. 30 inch HP monitor

3. Wireless keyboard

4. External hard drive, so I don't need to delete any movies/TV shows

5. USB hub

6. Dongle for backup internet

Any other recommendations? I am pretty clueless when it comes to technology but would love to have a few fancy and useful gadgets. I already have some nice headphones.

I will update next when I reach London... I cannot wait!!

August Results

2010-09-01T16:23:00.000+05:30

August was a massive volume fail, despite the work week. I played a grand total of 61.5 hours!! So pathetic. But I have my reasons for doing so. I am getting ready to move to London, and am just really excited about that.

August

It's not bad at all for 61.5 hours of playing. I made around 1k in rakeback as well.

I have pretty much decided to buy a MacBook Pro and use Windows on it. I will order it once I get to London. I am a technology noob, so if anyone has any better suggestions, please let me know. I only really need my laptop to be able to hook up to a 30 inch monitor and to be reasonably fast for playing poker. I will probably customize it and get the 8GB RAM and a SSD. I obviously just learned what all that means (somewhat anyway).

I just have so much random stuff to do, that I don't know how much I will play in the next 14 days. I am hoping to squeeze in a few sessions. Once I settle down in London, I will definitely be playing as much as I can.

Work Week

2010-08-28T15:02:00.001+05:30

The goal was to play 1000 super turbos from Monday-Friday and put in the hours regardless of what happened (like having a job). I managed to do that despite not playing 2 nights because I went out. I had to play 192 super turbos on Friday, which was always going to be a challenge due to going out for dinner. I played a pretty long morning session (142 games) and then a quick session after lunch to get the games in. The overall results are very pleasing.

Monday-Friday

By day

Some numbers:

Super Turbos played: 1017
Average Buyin: 53
Hours: 29.2
Games per hour: 34.8
Winnings: 4768 (EV 5468)
ROI: 8.8% (EV 10.1%)
Rakeback: 562
Rakeback per hour: 19.2
Hourly with rakeback: 182 (EV 206)
Total winnings: 5330

I am not sure but I feel like I definitely ran hot with my red line since I don't think it has ever gone up at 10% through 1000 games at super turbos. I did run 700 below EV in allins though. It was a very satisfying week, and I am going to do it again next week. Getting into a routine was nice and there is no excuse for me not to be putting in the hours.

Last 2 Days: 373 Super Turbos

2010-08-27T01:50:00.000+05:30

Wednesday:

I ended up just playing a morning session, and then went out to a nice bar with quite a few people. It was a super fun night. The poker was breakeven.

Wednesday

Thursday:

I managed to wake up at 9 today, despite having a small hangover. A cup of coffee cured that, and I put in a ton of games. I had fallen a bit behind pace and needed to catch up. I played 246 super turbos and ran stupidly bad. Like really bad. 34 buyins under EV.

Thursday

I am now at 808 super turbos for the week, and have to play 192 tomorrow. However, my friend is having a party in his house and so I won't be able to play at all at night. So my morning session has to be a loooooooong one, more than 5 hours. Bring it on.

Tuesday: 235 Super Turbos

2010-08-25T02:44:00.000+05:30

Today was another really nice day. I woke up bright and early at 9AM and played a 120 game session in 3.5 hours. I then played 2 shorter sessions much later in the evening. The end result?

Fun Tuesday

That's 435 super turbos down, 565 to go. 3 days left. I am going out drinking with friends tomorrow night, so I am aiming for a long morning session.

In one of the 100s that I got heads up in, I got the worst stretch of cards I have probably ever gotten. It was so bad that I had to take a screenshot of it.

97o = MONSTER

72o, 72o, 32s, 72s, 82o, 64s, 64o, 83o, 97o, 94s.... pretty spectacular right? What's even more spectacular is that I won 5 of the 10 pots because my opponent was a tight fish who limp/folded or open-folded a ton. See you tomorrow.

Monday: 200 Super Turbos

2010-08-24T02:36:00.000+05:30

11 people commented on my previous post within 24 hours, so I will donate $110 to charity if I don't play at least 1000 super turbos from Monday-Friday.

Today was the first day of this, and I struggled to get the volume in. That's because my morning session got cut short at 70 games due to bad internet. I didn't feel like stopping the session, putting in my backup internet, and then restarting. So I stopped playing, had lunch, and went to the gym.

I then played another couple of sessions either side of dinner and managed to squeeze in 200 games.

Pretty sweet day

It was just an ideal day - the red line and green line went up in each of my 3 sessions. I am going to try and play a lot more tomorrow morning, probably 120 super turbos or so. Good night.

Cold and Lack of Motivation

2010-08-22T19:00:00.009+05:30

I was in the gym on Friday just staring off in the distance between sets, when this guy who was walking past me turned towards me and sneezed. He said "sorry" and walked off. He then made some awful sniffling sound that made it obvious he was super sick. I was pretty pissed off and really wanted to yell at him, but chickened out. Of course, I now have a pretty bad cold.

I know that it could just be a coincidence, but I am pretty sure it isn't. I don't even feel that bad and I could definitely be playing poker, but I just don't feel like it. It seems like this entire month has been me coming up with excuses not to play. It's either 1) tired after the gym, 2) sick, 3) games are reg-filled, 4) golf, or 5) leaving to London soon so have to do stuff for that.

I think I have hit a point now where I am pretty fed up with my lack of volume and am determined to change it. However, I have said that quite a few times this month and have not followed through. This time, that is not going to happen.

Silly August

I am aiming to play 1000 super turbos from Monday-Friday. It will be like a regular work week. 1000 is probably around 30 hours of playing, so it isn't even much.

I will donate $10 to charity for each different person that leaves a comment in the next 24 hours if I don't play 1000 super turbos from Monday-Friday.

Yikes

2010-08-20T02:12:00.001+05:30

This month is going to the dogs... fast. I finally start playing a little, and Full Tilt has doomswitched me. Having said that, I have played a measly 27 hours after 19 days in August.

August so far

The only way out of this dowswing is to just fight it off with tons of volume. The plan for tomorrow is poker, haircut, and gym. I don't really feel like writing anything else. My red line hourly is 145 (with rakeback) and I have pretty much broken even. I hope the green line goes up along with the red line. Good night.

Sour Taste

2010-08-17T14:04:00.004+05:30

After a few days of not playing, I finally loaded up a session. 90 minutes later and I was running pretty badly. What's worse than that? Full Tilt had another server restart and I cannot play for another few hours! I was all set to play a long session and bounce back. Sigh.

Today

There is a silver lining though. I reviewed a bit and reread some old notes that I had jotted down when I figured out a few leaks of mine. I reviewed one hand where my initial reaction was "What an awful call... no wonder this guy is breakeven". It ended up being a +0.02% call against my range... what do I know? It definitely was eye-opening.

I cannot wait for my evening and night sessions to make great decisions and put in lots of volume.

The prop bet that I mentioned in my last post never materialized, but I have sent the Baron a week-long prop bet proposal for next Monday- Friday. ACCEPT IT!

Meanwhile, I shipped another golf tournament on Sunday. It was a four-ball better ball doubles tournament, but they had individual prizes as well. I won the handicap section for 0-9 handicappers. I shot 77 hitting 2 greens!! It's fair to say that my short game was pretty sharp. I got drunk after that (and posted that previous blog post) and then watched the final round of the PGA Championship. It was certainly drama-filled and had a well-deserving champion IMO.

Martin Kaymer

I just shudder to imagine what would have happened if Dustin Johnson made that putt on the final hole.

Drunkkkk

2010-08-15T04:23:00.000+05:30

Hello Blog Readers,

I will admit that I have been drinking a little and have got back at an unearthly hour. It's probably time to go to sleep but I shall do so after this post.

I played a little today - maybe 50 games or so - and broke even. I found myself making bad decisions, and decided to just cut the session short since I wasn't focusing well.

There will be an awesome prop bet in the near future with The Baron. We are going to do a 24 hour most games and most profit bet, with live blogging included. I am hoping to do it on Tuesday, but need to get the okay from Aaron.

No hangover, ONE TIME.

Morning Session

2010-08-13T14:25:00.008+05:30

Last night, I wrote: "I am going to wake up early tomorrow and aim for 100 super turbos (3 hours) before lunch". Mission accomplished.

I played 103 super turbos in 2.8 hours, which works out to 36 per hour. That is my highest number of games per hour ever and that is because of A) I increased my tables to 12 a while ago and B) I woke up earlier to play at a time with higher traffic. I am definitely going to start waking up earlier to get in more games in the morning. I woke up at 9:30 today, so that isn't even early by non-poker players' standards!

I had 2 interesting spots come up within my first 20 minutes of my session.

$100 + $3.75 Sit&Go (Super Turbo)

Stacks:
UTG (745)
CO (785)
BTN (270)
SB (500)
Hero (400)

Blinds: 30/60

Pre-Flop: (90, 5 players) Hero is BB J J
UTG raises to 120, CO goes all-in 785, 2 folds, Hero goes all-in 340, UTG folds

Flop: 4 5 2 (1,335, 2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: K (1,335, 2 players, 2 all-in)

River: 6 (1,335, 2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: 1,335
Hero shows a pair of Jacks
J J
CO shows a pair of Aces
A A

CO wins 1,335 (net +550)

$50 + $2 Sit & Go (Super Turbo)

Stacks:
UTG (300)
CO (470)
BTN (300)
SB (1,030)
Hero (600)

Blinds: 30/60

Pre-Flop: (90, 5 players) Hero is BB 9 9
UTG goes all-in 300, CO goes all-in 470, 2 folds, Hero folds

Flop: 3 2 7 (860, 2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: 5 (860, 2 players, 2 all-in)

River: J (860, 2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: 860
UTG shows a pair of Sevens
A 7
CO shows Ace Jack high
A 8

UTG wins 690 (net +390)

So that was 2 quick bad decisions, being results oriented of course! The first hand should have been an easy fold given reads/stats. I am fine with the fold in the 2nd hand. I am probably snapping TT though.

I hung in there, and it ended up being a nice red line session.

This morning

So now I'm going to watch the 1st round of the PGA Championship that I recorded, eat lunch, and go to the gym. If I end up going out at night, then that's probably all the poker I will play today.

I also want to thank Meteoric Poker for the nice hand converter.

Some Poker Is Better Than No Poker

2010-08-13T01:01:00.006+05:30

On August 5th, I posted my graph for the month until then. I had played a measly 140 games. 8 days later, and I have played a total of *drumroll please* 330 super turbos for the month. That is an additional 190 super turbos in 8 days. Pretty pathetic for a poker player doing this for a living, right?

I at least have a few good excuses - golf, gym, laziness. Okay, maybe that last excuse wasn't the best. Thank goodness the little poker I have played has gone well.

The last 8 days

Tomorrow:
This lack of volume had better change. I am going to wake up early tomorrow and aim for 100 super turbos (3 hours) before lunch. After that, I will hit the gym and try and squeeze in a short session before going out drinking with a friend that just came back to town.

Saturday:
I don't have any plans yet for Saturday, so I might try to break my single day super turbo record. I am not sure what it is, my guess would be 250. I will probably aim for 300 super turbos if nothing comes up.

Sunday:
I am playing a doubles golf tournament on Sunday and after that is the final round of the final major of the year, so I will be watching that. Watching golf majors is the single best thing to watch on TV. There probably won't be any poker on Sunday.

Beyond:
If I don't hit 300 on Saturday, then I will be going for it on Monday or Tuesday. I need to get this month back on track.

My First Live Tourney

2010-08-09T23:49:00.005+05:30

I typed this out after my first ever live tournament, which also happened to be my first time at a casino. It happened sometime in 2007, and it's fun to look back at it now. There is some pretty nutty logic in there from me :)

So first, a little background about me. I am studying in Copenhagen for one semester and am leaving on Thursday back home. I finished my last exam today and had registered a couple of weeks earlier for a 30 man SNG in Casino Copenhagen. The buyin is 1000 kroner (~$200). The top 3 get paid - 50%, 30%, 20%. My online bankroll is around $5000, so this was just a one-off shot to have fun and see how live poker is.

The first casino I stepped foot in

I get there 30 minutes early, and just take in all the gambling. When i get into my seat, nobody is really talking much. We get 2000 starting chips. The blinds are 25/25 and go up every 20 minutes, which is pretty fast for live. I get NO cards during the first hour and don't win a single pot. I limp occasionally after a few limpers with 87o and the like, and miss every flop. My best hand was 55 in 3rd position after an UTG raise when the blinds were 50/100, so I couldn't really play it. The guy to my left was a maniac - he went to 5000 and busted before I even won a pot. I end the first hour and head into the break with around 1600.

After the break, I finally pick up AKo on the button. An elderly guy to my right raises to 500. The blinds are now 75/150. I move allin for 1600 and he tanks. I try to look calm, but my heart is really pounding. I have never felt that online! I want him to call. He finally mucks and tells me he had ATs. I tell him he made a good fold. This takes me up over my starting stack of 2000.

This was probably how I looked after shoving AK

I then continue to get trash. I didn't even get KQ or ace rag. I got 55 once more, but again the tight guy raised before me so I had to muck.

Our table then gets broken since we are down to 20 players. I fold for an orbit or two with utter junk again. I'm back down to 1800, and the blinds are 75/150. On the button, I tell myself that I am raising ATC because of my tight image. I get 75o, pop it to 450, and win my 2nd live pot. I go back above 2000 again.

People are busting fast now, and we are 7 handed. The blinds are 100/200. I am the big blind and have T6o. There are 2 limpers and the SB completes. The flop is A97. It checks around. The turn is a 10. This might be the one mistake I made all day. I fire 300. The limpers fold and the small blind calls. As soon as he calls, I realize that the 10 was a spade and it put 3 spades on the board. Had I seen this, I would never have taken a stab since it has little chance of succeeding. I was confident nobody had an ace since the limpers would have raised with an ace in late position. Anyway, the river is another spade. The small blind instapushes, I instamuck.

This takes me down to around 1600. I am in middle position. The blinds are 150/300. There are 2 limpers. I get T9s and go allin. A couple of people behind tank and fold. The last limper (who was the villan in the previous hand) thinks for a long time, talks some danish which I don't understand, and folds. I show my cards, which was stupid since I couldn't use that move again. This takes me upto 2500 and we break again.

We are down to 12 now and the blinds are 200/400. I have blinded down to 1800. I am the small blind. The big blind is allin for 400, since he had just lost a big hand where he stupidly pushed KQo UTG with a large stack. Anyway, there are 2 limpers. I find QJs in the SB. I know a push is going to get called, so i see the cheap flop for 200 more leaving me 1400 behind. The flop is AA7 with 2 spades. I have QJ of spades. I tank and i know someone has an ace. But if he pushes, I am going to have to call because of all the chips in the middle, and the top heavy payout structure. So I push it in. A9 calls. I miss my spades. I say good luck to everybody and leave.

I take a nice 20 minute walk home instead of the bus. And here I am.

I hope you enjoyed it.

PS: oh I finished 11th/30. FT bubble boy :(

25 Putts and One Trophy

2010-08-08T22:13:00.000+05:30

Today was the 2nd round of that golf tournament I talked about in my previous post. I entered the day in tied 8th and was in the group ahead of the leadergroup. In my 10+ years of playing golf, this was by far my best putting day.

Hole 1 - Chunked my chip into the bunker on a par 4, made double bogey
Hole 2 - Holed a curling right-to-left 30 footer for par after hitting a bunker
Hole 3 - Holed a 15 footer for par after my chip went too far
Hole 4 - Hit the green and made par
Hole 5 - Tried to putt it up the slope of the bunker and left it in there. Played a bunker shot to 15 feet and holed it for bogey
Hole 6 - Left myself an almost impossible chip over a bunker to very little green on a par 3. Hit it over the green, then left myself a 10 footer for bogey which I made
Hole 7 - This was the only bad putt I made all day. Left a 5 footer for par short on a par 5!
Hole 8 - Went long on my approach and made a 12 footer for par
Hole 9 - Hit the green and 2 putted for par from 55 feet
Hole 10 - Hit the green and my birdie putt just missed from 30 feet.
Hole 11 - Hit it to 6 feet on a par 3 and made birdie. Birdied this hole both days
Hole 12 - SHENANIGANS! Drove it in the fairway on a short par 5. Then stupidly took out 3-wood which I wasn't hitting well and hooked it into thick rough. Punched out. Chunked my pitch into the bunker. Skulled my bunker shot way over. Then chipped my 6th shot to the edge of the green. Putted it in from off the green from 20 feet for double bogey!
Hole 13 - Hit the bunker, made bogey.
Hole 14 - Short par 4, hit it to 20 feet and made the birdie putt
Hole 15 - Bad chip, 2 putted for bogey from 30 feet
Hole 16 - Hit the green, made par.
Hole 17 - Hit an awful bump and run to 35 feet. Left that 8 feet short and made a crucial bogey putt.
Hole 18 - Made a 10 footer for par on the last hole with a few people watching!

My awesome putter

Add all that up and it came to a 78 (+8), hitting 5 greens and 26 putts!

I shot 79-78 and ended up getting runner-up in the handicap category. There were 4 of us tied at 1 under handicap for 2 days, so I ran good by getting 2nd winning the tiebreaker of better 2nd day. I think I ended up 6th or 7th in the open. The trophy I got was pretty sad looking, but I'll take it. It feels good to put in 2 decent rounds of strokeplay while not playing regularly.

It's now about a month till I leave and it's back to poker starting tomorrow!

Golf, No Poker

2010-08-07T21:49:00.005+05:30

As I mentioned in my previous post, there is a big 2 day tournament this weekend in my city. I played a practice round with my friend on Thursday and surprised myself by shooting 77 (+7). My handicap is 9 and I only play once a month these days because I have developed a nasty cut that eats into my distance. Golf isn't fun when you suddenly hit the ball 40 yards shorter.

The 77 was very solid - 7 bogeys and 11 pars. That put me in a good mindset going into today's round. It was a crazy round - not because of the golf, but the weather. We teed off at 7am and finished at 1pm! This was in insane heat, so I have this awful, slow, throbbing, and painful headache now. That's my excuse for the "no poker" in my post title for today.

I played decently despite the long round and the heat - shot 79 (+9) after being +5 through 5. That puts me tied 8th out of over 100 golfers heading into tomorrow. Another round in the 70s would be nice. I have to do something differently though to get rid of my headache. This is hopefully going to be my solution:

Please get rid of my post round headache

I hope that using a golf umbrella will get rid of my post round headache and even let me play some poker afterwards! I have played a laughable 140 super turbos in August. Do any of you play golf BTW or is this a post that nobody will read?

I also watched Legally Blonde today because there really isn't much to do when you have such a bad headache. I am embarrassed to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Good movie imo

Edit: After some quick googling, I saw that there is a Legally Blonde 2. I've got to get it to watch it after tomorrow's round!!

He Seems Angry

2010-08-05T01:04:00.000+05:30

Angry Dude:

This actually happened a couple of weeks ago, but I kept forgetting to post about it. I knocked this guy out from 3 or 4 super turbos in a few minutes and he just went nuts in the chat.

Apoorva186 (Observer): i hope boom....the mother-fkin donk loses all his money and roams naked on the streets
Apoorva186 (Observer): i curse boom to lose all his money....and start begging today
Apoorva186 (Observer): lose mofo....lose
Apoorva186 (Observer): lose and cry...like a fkin beaten up donke-y
Apoorva186 (Observer): call the donk he bluffs like a fool....constant and stupi-d
Apoorva186 (Observer): kick his butt...he is one moronic c-unt-muscle f-aggot
Apoorva186 (Observer): 4266 kick booms but-t
Apoorva186 (Observer): hate stupid mofos....kill them 4256
Apoorva186 (Observer): boom is a c-u-n-t muscle.f-a-g-g-o-t
Apoorva186 (Observer): boom is a c-u-n-t muscle.f-a-g-g-o-t
Apoorva186 (Observer): boom is a c-u-n-t muscle.f-a-g-g-o-t
Apoorva186 (Observer): boom is a c-u-n-t muscle.f-a-g-g-o-t
Apoorva186 (Observer): boom is a c-u-n-t muscle.f-a-g-g-o-t
Apoorva186 (Observer): boom is a c-u-n-t muscle.f-a-g-g-o-t
Apoorva186 (Observer): boom is a c-u-n-t muscle.f-a-g-g-o-t

I personally love the end. I have definitely never heard that phrase before. Chat like this really brightens up boring sessions for me, so keep it coming!

Poker:

I finally started playing after the break and it's been going well. I have only put in 4.8 hours and 140 super turbos. I play quite a bit during non-peak hours and the volume at 100s and 50s has been low. Ideally I would only be playing 100s and not even touch a 50. But so far I my breakdown of games has been 19/35/65/21 at 100s/50s/35s/20s. I have played more 20s than 100s, which is nuts. I guess it's time to wake up a couple of hours earlier.

August so far

Golf:

I am playing one of the biggest tournaments in my city this weekend. I only play around once a month these days, so I am going to play a round with a friend tomorrow and see how my game is. Shooting 2 good scores this weekend would be nice.

My volume from now till Sunday probably won't be much due to the tournament. I'll play tomorrow after the round and hopefully all of Friday. The tournament is Saturday and Sunday morning, so I will try to take money from the weekend fishies if I am not too tired after the rounds.

July Results and Looking Ahead

2010-08-03T02:20:00.001+05:30

Towards the end of the month, I started playing badly at the heads up super turbos. I definitely tilted and was probably not even +EV in them playing badly. It seems like I have lost the ability to play my A game for a long period of time at anything other than 9 man super turbos these days. However, July was still a nice month because I ran good.

The red line was only at +4k, but also was at +100 buyins. I ran really bad when I moved up to 200s (games 1200-1600 or so), but I ran really well at the lower stakes. I will happily take this month though!

After I started playing badly at heads up, I got some long-awaited good news. I will be moving to the UK in September to do my Masters! I took a few days off to just relax and I am now ready to get back into poker. This is my last 45 days for a while where I will be playing poker full time. I am not going to get too crazy with poker though and enjoy life a little more.

I will most likely just go back to 9 mans, but I also might give PokerStars another shot. I will probably start playing again in the next 2 days and will update this blog with whatever I play. It's not much, but I want to aim for 175 hours of playing before I leave. Making anything more than 15k would be nice.

The Isildur1 Incident

2010-07-30T04:01:00.001+05:30

A couple of days ago during a heads up session, I registered for a $102 super turbo. Someone joined and I was shocked to see that it was Isil1dur. Now although I am not a big poker gossip/high stakes railbird person, I have definitely heard of Isildur. I also knew that there was a "1" somewhere in his screenname. I immediately thought that the guy I was playing was the real deal and quickly hit Print Screen and pasted it in Paint.

Then it struck me to do a quick google search for Isildur. I typed in "isildur poker wiki" and waited with great anticipation. Although I have played with some big names online - Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch and Grey Raymer to name a few, isildur would have been a whole new level. My google search led me to this page and I was sad to see that the real one was spelled "Isildur1". So who was I playing against?

You know that something is strange when you would rather play against one of the most feared poker players in the world over a biggish donkey.

What happened against the fake isildur? I don't remember. I certainly would have if it had been the real one.

Top 7

2010-07-28T02:52:00.001+05:30

I was looking at some of the google search phrases that people use to stumble upon my blog and some of them were hilarious. Here are my top 7 favourite ones:

7. full tilt poker super turbos more than $160 needed
Perhaps a bankroll management article is what you need.

6. poker what is jinx?
I hope you took away all my jinxes.

5. a blog about annoying day
Why do you want to read about people's annoying days?

4. is the poker boom over
Don't make me depressed.

3. ("superturbo" or "super turbo" or superturbos or "super turbos") ("full tilt" or fulltilt) player blog
Expert googler IMO

2. i got battered
Not quite the site you were looking for?

1. i hate myself for playing poker
Wow

Learning Curve for HU

2010-07-26T04:43:00.002+05:30

It's been almost a year since I have seriously played anything other than the 9 man super turbos. I figured a day like today had to come around sometime or the other. I started off running hot in the morning and playing decently. I then watched the Grand Prix (poor Massa) and the senior British Open (Langer!) and then settled down for a session. I wasn't in the best mindset TBH - I had a slight headache and was even wondering whether I should play at all.

Anyway I started off and a few hands kind off got to me and then I started again playing a little recklessly. I feel that when I go down 400 to 600 chips after a few hands, I start to become far too aggro. This is something I wasn't doing a few days back when I started playing. I just need to focus more.

Having said all that, I still won 1100 today because I am a luckbox this month.

Today's graph: Puke red line

Atleast I managed to recover somewhat from my low point of -600 of my red line. I just need to look at today as a lesson learnt and to keep my sessions somewhat short. The last session of mine lasted a ridiculous 280 minutes. I would venture to say that a session more than 4 hours is not a good thing for 90% of non-MTT poker players.

To put things in perspective, my month of HU is still looking good.

HU this month - only 4 days overall

It's only been 4 days and it's a really small sample, but my red line is at 6% ROI. This means nothing, but this is all new to me so I am going to keep playing these for now. I am also going to post my first ever hand on the HU forum on 2p2. No flaming please.

A New Graph?

2010-07-25T02:24:00.002+05:30

It has been another really good day overall. I played some poker and then abandoned thoughts of hitting the gym when I heard that 5 vs 5 football was on at a friend's house. I played football for around 2 hours and was utterly exhausted. It is far more tiring than any amount of cardio in the gym and way way more fun. I then got back and decided not to go out and drink because I was that tired. I had a cup of coffee and played more poker.

This kind of football for the Americans reading my blog

I went 48-34 at the 100s today at the heads up super turbos. I am definitely running hot, but am also playing really well. I know of a few recurring mistakes that I make and am trying to stop it. I made 1236 today and my EV line was at 1181 - a very satisfying day.

The new graph that I refresh quite a bit is my profit per number of entrants on sharkscope. Maybe my HU column will start to take off now if I keep playing them? Let's hope so!

Graph on Full Tilt

Graph on PokerStars

Long Day of Heads Up

2010-07-24T03:34:00.002+05:30

I played 108 heads up super turbos today and went 64-44 for a profit of 1784. I was 1-tabling and it took me around 7 hours. I would give myself a B+ or so on how well I played. I definitely was on top of things most of the time, but I felt myself making stupid plays towards the end without thinking. A couple of years ago, I copied and pasted this piece of advice (gold) from FoxwoodFiend's well on 2p2:

start thinking about why you're doing what you're doing would be my suggestion. if you ever find yourself doing something without knowing why and just because you want to win the pot, quit. poker is about too many close decisions to be making calls and shoves thoughtlessly, losing the discipline to make tough decisions is disastrous at any stakes.

For most of the day, there was definitely reasoning behind my decisions. Towards the end I felt myself making silly plays like shoving QJo at 10/20 with 500 chips after the guy 3x'd me for the first time after limping/minraising 10 hands. That is something I should just never do while 1-tabling.

Tomorrow's goal is to play my best at all times. Here is today's graph:

My red line disease is really bad to be worried about the dip from games 80 to 108. I seriously need to stop worrying about it. I am looking forward to another 100+ heads up super turbos day tomorrow with solid decision making. THINK ABOUT EVERY DECISION!

Plodding Along Nicely

2010-07-23T03:42:00.027+05:30

I started the 1750 Super Turbo Challenge on July 15th and since then I have played only 508 super turbos. I have been a little busy in real life though, and I did play more heads up super turbos today than 9 mans. I am going to try my best to finish the 1750, but I might just play more heads up instead. Here is the graph of the 508 super turbos:

This is just 17 hours of playing, which means I am getting in 30 per hour which is very nice. Even though I increased my tables to 12, I still managed to save some cool/weird/WTF hands.

I played 86 HU super turbos today - all 100s. I went 49-37 while running a little above EV. I really love the structure. You start out 25BB deep and there is some room to play. If the game lasts 5 minutes, then it gets into the push/shove game.. which I don't mind at all. Here is my HU graph for the day:

And now to 2 of the hands I saved -

Here is the worst bubble call I have ever seen. It was pretty nice to coast into the money in a 100.

And here is my favourite HU hand. It's more of a brag than anything else. Villain was a fish, and his PSB on the river was pretty much always trips+ or air.

100th Post: My Poker Journey

2010-07-21T03:09:00.008+05:30

It's crazy that I have already reached a hundred blog posts. I enjoy blogging and thought some of you might enjoy the story of how I got started in poker. Here goes:

My Poker Journey:

One of my friends in college invited me over to play a poker game for $5. I didn't know the difference between a pair of 6s and 6 pears so I looked up the basic hand rankings and betting structures and off I went. Everyone was pretty bad and it was just a fun time. Thus began my poker career. On one of those nights, a friend said that there was a bigger game going on at a frat house. We decided to go play. I lost my buyin in maybe 4 hands when I c/c 2 pair on a 4 spades board. I remember this hand clearly because I was so intimidated at the time and had no idea WTF I was doing. I stayed for a few minutes, then went back to my room pretty dejected.

I immediately googled and read a bunch about Texas Hold'em online. I learned basic stuff like 3x raises, c-bets, etc and did fairly okay at home games after that. One day I had the urge to put money online. I put $50 on and immediately made an Excel sheet marking down times of small MTTs I could play. There was a freeroll for new depositors. It had around 5000 entrants, but maybe 80% were sitting out. I ended up getting 7th for $200 and I was so proud. I lost all the money pretty quickly after that. I deposited another 50 probably 15 times or so, losing it at NL50/100 and SNGs up to $20. Bankroll management FTW.

One day I stumbled across some site that offered to sell you the secret to winning SNGs. I paid $35 for a PDF that outlined basic strategies (tight early on, shove at the end). I could have found this on many sites online, but whatever. It was the best $35 I spent at the time! I also read a bankroll management article that I immediately followed. I started playing $10 SNGs and making meticulous records of every game I played. I think I used to play a $10 9 man, and a $10 heads up at the same time. Using the simple strategy that I learned, I built my bankroll up to around 1100. I probably ran hot early on to not bust that umpteenth deposit, but I was definitely beating the games 1 tabling. Games were soft back then.

Then came my biggest tilt session ever and the most important lesson I have ever learned in poker. I lost a few HU SNGs in a row at the 10s, and moved up to the 20s. I didn't do better there and kept moving up. My bankroll was down to 500 from 1100, when I joined a 200. On the first hand, I bluff shoved something on 22x2x board trying to rep quads. My opponent snapcalled with quads. I immediately closed everything and was in a state of shock. I also had exams starting in a few days, and I made a very good decision then to forget about poker.

I went back to poker during that summer having learnt a huge lesson about tilt. I am proud to say that I have been a bankroll nit since then and have played probably 300k hands at 1/2, but not A SINGLE HAND at 2/4. I have never since tilted and moved up stakes. Back to the story. I rebuilt my bankroll playing the 10s again, while studying on the side - reading forums, articles, etc. My bankroll was back up to around 600, when I binked a $10 turbo MTT for 1600 or so. That was pretty huge at that time. I then realized I was now up overall at poker, and I desperately wanted to not fall back into the red.

From there, it was relatively smooth-sailing. I built my bankroll from 2k to 5k playing HU, 9/45/180 mans, and MTTs. All this was on Pokerstars. I remember having a pretty bad day, and I decided to try out Full Tilt. I put 100 on there, and started at the 6.50s. I treated the 100 as a new bankroll and a personal challenge to get the roll up. I got it up to 1000 pretty fast and moved to the 11s and then the 22s. I made decent money at those and then moved back to Stars and continued to do well. It was around this time I knew I wanted to play poker for a living.

That is the story of my transformation from a home game donkey to a poker pro. I have made some great friends along the way and it has been an amazing journey.

More Tables = More Money

2010-07-17T03:36:00.002+05:30

For now anyway. I cannot believe that I didn't think of increasing my tables earlier. I have chatted with a few super turbo regs over the past few months, and invariably the conversation goes to how many tables we play. And I always get the surprised response asking why I only played a maximum of 9 tables. It's not like I cannot click buttons and think fast and I have 18 tabled regular turbos before. I have even 6 tabled 1/2 PLO 6 max along with 4 regular turbos.

So I FINALLY increased my number of tables to 12. And this has done a few amazing things for me:

1. I no longer have time to constantly refresh my red line and worry about it. This lets me focus my energy on just making the best decisions.
2. When I make borderline shoves/calls, I am now more likely to miss the result of the hand. When I used to see the result, I would sometimes become results-oriented and leaks could creep in.
3. I get in more games per hour!!!

My long term super turbos per hour has been 24. Over the last couple of days, I have played 200 super turbos in 6.3 hours for a 33% increase to 32 super turbos per hour.

I will probably continue to only play 1-2 sessions per day until the British Open is over on Sunday. A friend and I have an interesting low stakes prop bet on golf majors. We each got to pick 3 guys who have never won majors. We get around $25 if one of our guys wins a major in 2010.

My picks:
1. Lee Westwood
2. Ian Poulter
3. Henrik Stenson

His picks:
1. Steve Stricker
2. Paul Casey
3. Sergio Garcia

I love my picks because he is drawing dead with Garcia, and Stricker doesn't seem to contend in majors.

Anyway, 1550 super turbos to go for the month. I might increase the overall challenge from 1750 to 2000 super turbos, since I am getting in that many more per hour.

1750 Super Turbos Challenge

2010-07-16T00:39:00.001+05:30

That is my goal for the rest of the month - 1750 super turbos. The British Open is on till Sunday, so I will be watching that a lot and will put in proper volume starting on Monday. I am also going to not play any 200s for now. I am going to try and increase the number of tables I play. All this while, I have been limiting my tables to 9. I am going to experiment with going up to 12 and seeing if it affects my play or not. I used to be able to play up to 18 tables of regular turbos, so I don't think it should be too hard.

I am going to start a session now, so that's it for now. Oh and no checking of the red line in the middle of a session.

The Move Up

2010-07-15T03:03:00.001+05:30

It hasn't been a successful move up so far. I have only put in 303 super turbos in the last 3 days since I started playing the 200s and my red line and winnings are down. It's been a frustrating 3 days as my internet has been acting up and I haven't been winning.

I am not giving up though. I have been studying and reviewing a lot. I am just running into a lot of unavoidable situations as well as making some bad decisions. I definitely need to cut those out. The goal from here on out is to think about every decision and not play on autopilot. I have to really analyze what's going on when it is my turn to act.

I contemplated moving back down, but am positive I can beat the 200s.

As I wrote that previous sentence, I think I changed my mind. The 200s seem insanely reg-filled. If I beat the 100s for 3%, and the 200s for 1-2%, then I would rather play the 100s with lower variance.

Well, I just made up my mind. I am going to drop back down and not play any more 200s for a while. I just feel so comfortable at the 100s/50s/35s, and don't feel much pressure. I think that makes me play my best. I am going to do try and put in some good volume and see what happens.

My mind is flip-flopping, but as soon as I decided to drop back down, a sense of peace came over me. It was as if I was dreading waking up tomorrow and playing 200s with the knowledge that a 5-10k downswing can easily happen. It's back to moving down and crushing!

Crazy blog post. I am not going to edit it... you can just read the mess that went on in my mind!

Need a Small Break

2010-07-11T23:00:00.001+05:30

I finally moved up to the 200s today. I lost 1400, and my EV line was -600. I played pretty horribly. I just snap called and snap shoved without thinking about it. After I make the move, I know instantly in my head that it is bad. Then just now, the 200s/100s/50s weren't loading fast enough, so I 1 tabled some super turbo HU along with the 9 mans. Mixing two different game types usually ends up badly for me, and I lost 10 buyins at the 100s in HU... although I did run terribly. I actually thought I played decently.

I am going to not let myself play any 9 mans tomorrow as a punishment for playing so badly. I tend to get myself into these cycles where I feel myself go back into autopilot mode after playing a bunch.

Those are my stats per day for the month. Click on the picture for a larger view. You can see from the # of games I have been playing that I have put in quite a lot of games. Playing badly when moving up is not a good thing. So tomorrow is going to be an off day, where I am going to finish a lot of errands that I have been putting off, and then hopefully it's back to playing my best on Tuesday.

Come On Spain!!

2010-07-11T05:21:00.001+05:30

I played 348 Super Turbos in the last couple of days, and my red line is up a little (1% ROI). I definitely made a few bad decisions, but I am trying my hardest to play my A game. It is dawning on me how much of a influence card distribution has on super turbos in the short run. I am going to keep plugging away and putting in the volume... hopefully the results will follow.

I have Spain in the STTF forum on 2p2's random pool thing. I win 300 if Spain win, so I guess I will be supporting them. If I didn't have money on it, I would probably want the Netherlands to win. Spain are just playing incredible football and are deserving of the title IMO. So let's go Spain!!!!!!!!

Annoying Day, Good Month So Far

2010-07-09T03:16:00.007+05:30

Today has been quite the annoying poker day.

I was planning on playing 175 super turbos today, to hit 1000 for the month. Little did I know what would follow. I woke up as usual around 10AM and went through my usual morning routine - brushed my teeth, ate breakfast, drank coffee, and watched an episode of White Collar (awesome show) that I recorded the previous night. I then opened Full Tilt, but saw there was a server update. No biggie, I just messed around and did nothing the whole afternoon.

After Full Tilt was back up, there was a software update. So I installed the new software, and finally sat down to play some super turbos. CRASH. Full Tilt crashed on me before I even registered for a game. That should have been my first sign to stay away and take the day off. But I persisted, reloaded the client, and fired up a set. I played for a couple of hours and everything was going fine, the red line was going up. CRASH. It crashed again. It took me a minute to get back, and that's quite a long time in the super turbo world. I ended the session there.

I then had dinner, and loaded up another session (WHY???). CRASH. CRASH. It crashed twice during the session. Then the weirdest thing ever happened. FREEZE. A popup on Full Tilt wouldn't go away. I wasn't able to press the "OK" button. I didn't have access to the lobby, but the tables were running fine. So I just played the tables, and new ones kept popping up. (Did I mention I had a problem with Table Ninja where it registered me for tournaments?). I kept playing. Then I had a thought - what if some of the tables weren't popping up due to the error? I frantically IM'ed a few people to check what i was registered in, and thankfully I was playing everything that I was in. After I finished the tables, GG Full Tilt for the day.

Oh right, I also got killed in that final session as you can see the drop at the end. HOWEVER, my red line was still at +267 for the day, and I even made a little money post-rakeback today. I guess I shouldn't complain, but it definitely was annoying.

I am still at 930 super turbos for the month, and it has been a really good month so far. The red line is at 7.1% ROI, and my actual winnings are a whopping 20.4% ROI.

It's so pleasing to see the red line at $5/game including rakeback. I finally feel like the hard work I have put in rebuilding my game is paying off. I really want to play more right now after that last session where I got killed and frozen, but I am following my brain instead of my heart, and not playing while Full Tilt is acting up like this. I hope these problems are solved and I can put in a lot of volume tomorrow.

Reached My Target

2010-07-06T03:43:00.003+05:30

I said in my previous blog post that I would move up to the 200s once my red line reaches +100 buyins since I dropped down on May 29th. I was at +75 buyins then and it's already at +106 buyins 36 hours later!

I might just postpone the move up to 200s however. This is because I am feeling very comfortable at the moment at the 100s/50s/35s and am putting in some decent volume (26 hours this month with a day off). I am going to just play it by ear and move up when I feel like it. The next short term target is to reach 1000 super turbos for the month. I am at 664 and hope to reach it in 3 days. I will probably take day after tomorrow off because of golf.

Here is my sharkscope since May 29th:

What I am proud about is putting in the volume when I am winning. I usually never do that. Some of the inspiration has come from seeing jorj95's stats. They are just so ridiculously sick and make me feel bad about how much I have played in my life.

Compare that to my lifetime SNG numbers on Full Tilt (28k SNGs, average profit of 3, average stake of 98, average ROI of 4%, and total profit of 75k). He basically plays 1.5 times the stakes as me with the same ROI, but with TEN TIMES the volume. He is obviously at an extreme end of the spectrum being able to mass table like I will never be able to, but I still need to be a lot closer to him.

That only means some serious grinding in the next few months!!

Target to Move Back to 200s

2010-07-04T16:32:00.003+05:30

Super Turbos:

I stopped myself from playing 200s on May 29th after talking to Aaron "The Baron" Barone. The drop down has been very successful and has given me confidence again.

The red line is at +75 buyins (3.2% ROI), and I have actually won 275 buyins. That is 4k vs 17k in dollars. Before you go calling me lucky, I am still over 10k below EV lifetime at super turbos. But it does feel good to run good after a while. 2000 super turbos is a pretty poor effort of volume on my part, but I was away for 2 weeks. I am getting the itch to play the 200s again now. It will double my rakeback per hour to 30 from 15. I will probably give it 1000 games or so and see how reg-infested they are.

Since The Baron talked me into dropping down, I would like to hear your thoughts on moving back up. I think I will do it once my red line reaches +100 buyins at these stakes. That's a fairly good indication that I am beating these stakes at a nice clip. I have already played 433 super turbos in July, and am looking forward to putting in tons of volume.

Golf:

Ever since I graduated from college and stopped being on the golf team there, my motivation for practicing has plummeted. As a result, I have probably lost 50 yards with my driver, and am hitting big cuts instead of a small draw. Golf wasn't fun anymore when I was hitting it so short. I am hoping that yesterday's round was a turning point for me. It was a club tournament and I was +10 through 6. I am a 9 handicap and that is probably the worst 6 holes of golf I have played in 5 years.

Then something clicked. I figured something out in my swing. I made 9 pars, 1 birdie, 1 bogey, and 1 double in the remaining 12 holes to shoot 82 after that puke start. I also started striping my irons and hit quite a few greens. I am excited to play golf again now!

Football:

It's Uruguay vs Netherlands and Spain vs Germany in the semis. I entered a couple of random pools on the STTF forum on 2p2 and I have Germany and Spain in them. I win ~300 if either of them win, so I will have a nice sweat in the final. If it weren't for the bets, I would probably be supporting either Netherlands or Spain. It's so ridiculous that Fabregas is on the bench.

Volume Filled July

2010-07-02T02:55:00.004+05:30

I really want to put in some serious volume in July. I am not going to set any targets, but am just going to try and play as much as possible. I have played 4 days since coming back from Vegas, and I am enjoying it. I even played quite a few 45/54/90 mans, after AGES. I was getting destroyed and then got 2nd in a $69/45 man to get back to even.

I don't think I am going to play much more of these, other than mixing in a few of the 54 man super turbos, just because they are SO MUCH FUN!

The 9 man super turbos have been going pretty well.

Out of those 315 super turbos, 186 of them were today. That's a good start to July. I also thought of something else, and am going to name it...

Boom's Law: The amount of abuse you get at a poker table is directly proportional to how many chips you have.

I copied this chat from a table:

daveachtung: boom i,m going for you

daveachtung: boom subnormal

masteread: he is the luckiest on tilt

This actually happened before a super turbo started. It still doesn't go against my law because I did run insanely good at one that just ended. What is subnormal??

Good luck to deurdy in event 54, $1000 NLH. I bought 15% of him, so please run good!

Vegas!!

2010-06-28T06:43:00.016+05:30

I just got back from a pretty epic trip to the US. I went to a bunch of places, met friends, family, and poker players. I spent 3 days in Vegas, and it was an insanely fun time.

I played exactly 1 hour of poker when I was in Vegas. It was a holiday, so no working, right? I didn't even make it to the WSOP area to see it! I went to the Rio, but only gambled a bit at the casino and left. I played a ton of blackjack and other random table games. I lost a bit, but was able to control myself only because of my discipline as a poker player. Although I wouldn't have gambled that much money in the first place if I wasn't a poker player. It is a double-edged sword!

On my last night in Vegas, I met up with biggamesjames, walchy, and faarcyde - a super turbo party!! We ended up getting dinner at a nice Mexican place at the Venetian. I ended up doing some fancy tequila, which really wasn't a great idea since it was still pretty early in the night. The bill came to over $400, which is easily the most expensive dinner I have had. I had my first ever credit card roulette and I didn't even have to sweat as my card was drawn out first! biggamesjames ended up losing and had to pay for dinner - thanks for dinner!! I then semi-learnt how to play craps and lost a bit. But probably the most fun gambling game of all time is Casino War. I love how the wikipedia page says "The game is arguably one of the most easily understood casino card games, but it also has a relatively large house edge compared to other games.". So true. We then ended up going to some random bars and clubs... overall a very fun night.

Despite Vegas, the highlight of my trip was by far meeting up with old college friends. But now, it is back to poker and the world cup. I am pretty upset that England lost, but there are still some great matches to look forward to.

I will probably start playing poker pretty soon, and I plan to grind it out hardcore for the next 3 months. After that, I will be moving to London to study. The plan is to make a ton before moving.

Any thoughts on the new layout?

An Extra Day

2010-06-07T03:57:00.012+05:30

I thought I was leaving for the US in 2 days until a friend asked me when I was leaving. I thought about it and realized I had 3 days! I have a checklist of 6 or 7 things to do before leaving, so I thought that today would be the last day of poker. It turns out I can play tomorrow, and finish my goal of 500 super turbos.

I have been trying to play as much as possible, but have been really distracted with the growing excitement of the upcoming holiday! I have played 347 super turbos and my red line is breakeven. I have won 2k. It feels nice to run good. I am not that worried about my red line because I have run AQ/AK into AA 4 or 5 times in my last 2 sessions in 100s. That hurts the red line. I am not going to look at my red line in the middle of a session from this point onwards. It is just unnecessary hassle.

I have become seriously motivated to put in lots of volume and grind out super turbos. It is going to happen big time when I come back from the US. The goal for tomorrow is 153 super turbos and play well. The 500 super turbo graph is coming up tomorrow.

1001 Super Turbos

2010-06-03T21:48:00.009+05:30

I just got done with this dropping down challenge. It took me 5 and a half days and 39 hours of playing. It actually ended up being 1001 super turbos, and I shipped the last one which was a 100 :)

Random Stats:

1. I played 20s, 35s, 50s, and 100s... (14, 230, 446, and 311 respectively)
2. EV line : +2113
3. Winnings: +5432
4. Rakeback: +652 (17 per hour)
5. Hours: 38.6
6. EV Hourly: 72 (with rakeback)
7. Actual Hourly: 157 (with rakeback)

Thoughts:

1. I got off to a great start, then kind of got into autopilot mode, before I realized a few leaks. I need to work hard on correcting those leaks.
2. Before starting this, I wasn't 100% sure that I could beat these. I will take 72 per hour while tweaking my game considerably. Although my hourly was around 200 earlier over a large sample, this is a step in the right direction.
3. I ran good, but I am still over 20k below EV in super turbos alltime.

New Challenge:

I am going to do this same thing again, but only 500 games as I leave for the US on the 9th. As usual, no 200s. The main goal of this challenge is to play my best at all times and to constantly work on the leaks I have.

Something Clicked

2010-06-03T02:42:00.007+05:30

I started today playing normally with just one difference - I tried not to look at the red line in the middle of a session. By and large that worked, and I only looked at it as I was winding down a session.

But during my last session, something clicked. I looked at a particular opponent in these super turbos, and it suddenly got me thinking a lot. I realized a few pretty major leaks of mine. I don't want to say what exactly it is in case some regs read this blog, but I am happy I realized it now. I am pretty sure I didn't have these leaks earlier when I was crushing, so I am more eager than ever to put in volume and see what happens.

That was my graph for today - 203 super turbos, run good, red line up. Great.

I am now at 884 super turbos for the mini challenge, and will finish the rest before lunch tomorrow. Most of my friends know, but I am making a 2 week trip to the US. I will be going for a wedding, seeing college friends, and of course VEGAS. I am only in Vegas for 3 days, but I can't wait. I need to book a hotel soon. I leave on the 9th, so after I finish the 1000 games tomorrow, I am going to do a little shopping. I hope to get that out of the way, and then hopefully finish another 1000 before leaving for my holiday.

Check back in for the post challenge graph tomorrow of all 1000 super turbos.

Let's Go One Better

2010-06-02T02:09:00.002+05:30

I played 200 super turbos yesterday, and I went one better today. For you math-impaired folks, that means I played 201 super turbos today. That was a really lame sentence, but my mind is kinda messed up at the moment after one of the few tilt sessions I have had in any form of SNGs. I made dumb shoves and calls without thinking.

While the bad decisions were bad, it wasn't THAT bad. I just kept running into hands. My session ended when I had 99 vs TT on 2 different tables in completely standard spots. It's time to take a break now and start fresh tomorrow. I have to remember the blog title - Think About Every Decision.

The Double Century

2010-06-01T02:36:00.003+05:30

I can be all cool like Aaron and start a blog title with "The".

I had made up my mind to play 200 super turbos today, and I did it.

I fired up my last session needing to play another 38 games, and it was an absolute train-wreck. It was past midnight and while I was fine, I knew that I wasn't that sharp. I didn't make the right decisions in some close spots, and just had a bad session (running into hands, 55 vs 66, AQ vs AK, etc). Although it leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, a winning day is a winning day. I'll take it.

An update on the overall mini challenge of 1000 super turbos, without playing a single 200 or higher:

I want to step up the pace and finish this in the next 3 days. 520 to go.

176 and Done

2010-05-31T02:42:00.002+05:30

I have to admit that naming my blog titles after how many super turbos I have played for the day saves me a couple of minutes in trying to come up with a blog title!

Today was a really pleasing day. I put in nearly 7 hours despite it being a Sunday, and played 176 super turbos (duh). I have been sticking to my rule of not playing anything higher than the 100s, and it's working out well. So much of the stress has been removed. Without further ado, here is today's beautiful graph:

The graph looks even better when I convert the dollar to buyins on the axes. In dollar terms, the red line was +1265 and the green line was +2101. It feels phenomenal to run good and see the red line go up.

That is now 280 super turbos completed in the mini 1000 super turbo challenge after 2 days. I had a bit of a headache today towards the end, which is why I didn't complete my target of 200 for the day. I think finishing the 1000 in another 5 days is realistic.

104 Super Turbos Later

2010-05-30T01:43:00.001+05:30

2 Blog Posts in 5 hours!

It's just been such a long time since I had a winning session with my red line going up, that I wanted to post my first session after my "1000 Super Turbo Drop Down in Stakes Challenge".

That's more like it. Now I really hope this continues. I don't think I have had 2 winning days in a row in more than a month.

I also feel so little pressure at the 35s-100s because I dropped down. I don't feel paranoid that regs are exploiting me. I feel free to just make the best decisions possible. I am looking forward to getting in 200 games tomorrow and hopefully a blog post after I play and run well!

Trying to Rebuild

2010-05-29T20:32:00.001+05:30

A couple of weeks ago, Aaron "The Baron" Barone sweated me and it really got me thinking again about super turbos. I then watched a couple of faarcyde videos on Cardrunners. I decided to move down a bit and rebuild. Since then, I have played 988 super turbos and the results have been poor. The problem is I didn't stick to any buyin. I played mostly 50s, 100s, and 200s, but I played a few 350s, and even a 500 which was soft. I also played some 35s to fill in some sets.

Playing a 35 and a 350 at the same time makes 0 sense. It's tough to play well at the 35s when you're playing a super turbo that is 10 times the buyin right next to it. The results are painful to look at:

I have decided I need to stick to a couple of buyin levels. For the next 1000 super turbos, I am not going to play anything above the 100s. It's going to be mainly 50s and 100s, and a few 35s if nothing is running. I am going to try and play a ton and hopefully finish them in 5 days. If I don't beat them, then I am going to drop down another level. That would be terrible, so I am hoping to have a good few days.

Umm Cool

2010-05-23T05:09:00.001+05:30

No Money in Super Turbos. Everyone's solid.

Full Tilt Poker Game #21044051778: $200 + $7 Sit&Go (Sup Turbo) (162102706), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:34:27 ET - 2010/05/22
Seat 5: COCO2612 (510)
Seat 6: Hero (610)
Seat 8: kingpin023 (1,580)
kingpin023 posts the small blind of 30
COCO2612 posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Td Ah]
Hero raises to 610, and is all in
kingpin023 folds
COCO2612 calls 450, and is all in
Hero shows [Td Ah]
COCO2612 shows [7d 2d]
Uncalled bet of 100 returned to Hero
*** FLOP *** [6s 6h 7h]
*** TURN *** [6s 6h 7h] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [6s 6h 7h 4c] [4s]
Hero shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
COCO2612 shows two pair, Sevens and Sixes
COCO2612 wins the pot (1,050) with two pair, Sevens and Sixes

A Low Point

2010-05-14T02:06:00.001+05:30

Since that previous short and sweet session, I dropped like 4k in super turbos and 3k in Rush PLO 100. I don't know wtf is going on anymore. My EV line at Rush was -1.8k. Am I really that bad? I used to beat 1/2 on Pokerstars pretty well a while ago. I have lost my ability to play my A game. I am treating everything like play money. I am passively tilting - making bad calls, being passive, and making dumb bluffs.

I need to re-dedicate myself. I need some goals and need to play my best. Does anyone have suggestions on how to get my focus back? I am planning on watching a Jared Tandler video series on playing your A game, but I really need suggestions.

This is probably one of the low points of my poker career. I am feeling helpless. This is a completely new phase in my poker career that I have experienced. I have NEVER felt incapable of beating any game. Now, I still know I can beat them, I just don't know how to play well.

5 years ago when I started playing, if you told me the situation I would be now financially, I would snap-accept. That is the 1 good thing.

Nice Little Session

2010-05-12T18:30:00.003+05:30

I sat down to play some 9 mans after a long time, hoping to put in some volume. I had coffee, got everything ready, loaded up some games, and what happens? The current goes out. So I just finish up and check my results.

Yup, a nice little +2k session in 9 games, where my red line went up at around 130 per game. That's what happens when you get AA vs AQ and 66 vs 62. Nice to be on the right side of things. Oh, my hourly was 3777 per hour!

This really means nothing at the stakes I play, so I will book this win and put in more volume soon. It's nice to have a positive blog post after a while. Hopefully there will be many more to come.

Is It Just Me?

2010-05-11T03:02:00.007+05:30

Ever since I have played poker professionally, I have had unusual stretches of playing and not playing. I would play 45 days in a row, then take 20 days off. Right now, I am in one of those long periods of not playing. It's probably been 10 days or so since I have put in decent volume. I feel guilty when I read blogs and posts of other players about how motivated they are. However, I have put myself in this position and I have the luxury of taking time off whenever I want. It is one of the advantages of playing poker professionally. Is it just me that takes such long breaks from poker?

I also took this break right when my rakeback site started holding weekly rake races. I would get $3300 for winning all 4 rake races in May. This is a nice little bonus for the month. Having said that, I have already missed all of week 1. Ugh.

I feel myself slowly wondering when I will start playing again. I anticipate it being another 3 or 4 days. I might then do a "poker week" that Aaron "The Baron" Barone told me about. It would basically be a week of eating, sleeping, and breathing poker. I really need a high volume week like that to get back to putting in some solid hours. The poker week shall commence shortly!

It Continues...

2010-04-30T03:54:00.004+05:30

The bad internet continues and there is not much point in playing poker when I get disconnected for a few seconds every 5-10 minutes. It should be resolved in a few days. At times like this, when I have no way of playing poker, do I realize how much a part of my life it has become.

I found this really cool site with loads of puzzle games. I started playing Nurikabe and after a LONG time I finished a 20x20 grid. This one took me around 82 minutes to finish, and that was after 4-5 long and tiresome failed attempts. I was so thrilled when I finished, that I took a screenshot.

The game starts with just the numbers, and you have to determine if the cells are either black or white. There are 3 or 4 rules to follow. I played it HERE and will be super impressed if anyone finishes a 20x20 grid within 24 hours of playing their first ever 5x5 game. Please do let me know how it goes if you try, it's a fascinating game.

I will now end the lamest poker blog post ever written by wishing all of you good luck playing poker while I find sillier ways to pass my time.

Internet Frustration

2010-04-28T02:45:00.003+05:30

Since my last update, there was some silly internet problem that affected my area, maybe even state. I *think* it's over now, but I can't be sure. As a result, I played on and off, got disconnected a million times, and was just not having fun. I was finally able to play a session and decided to play Rush PLO 100. I really wish they would introduce higher limits at Rush PLO.

Heads up has been going well with the new structure. That is my graph since April 16th when I first started playing with the new structure.

A breakdown of the graph -
50s: 2-2
100s: 389-349
200s: 39-18
500s: 1-0

I have mainly been playing 100s, but have moved up when I saw some fish. The 500 that I played was a mixture of tilt and seeing a fish. I mark fish with a yellow note, and insta-sat when I saw a yellow note guy sitting. I later realized that he was a huge winner at heads up!! Luckily my AQ held up against KQ.

The plan for the rest of the month is to keep playing whatever I feel like. Heads up, PLO, and 9 mans. Strangely, I haven't had the urge to play 9 mans for a while. I do think I need a main game for the next month though. I like the feeling from just crushing one type of game. I might play heads up during off-peak hours and 9 mans during peak hours. I am just so happy my internet is working well again, so more pokerrrr.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

2010-04-25T04:34:00.000+05:30

The title pretty much sums up my month. It has been very half-hearted and patchy. I played on and off, HU and 9 mans. I took days off, played only 2 hours a day at times, and didn't play my best when I did play. Today, I decided to play some 9 mans, and broke even after 2 hours. I then played some HU from 3am-4am and broke even as well.

I just need to get back into that mindset of perfect poker. When I was playing that way, I used to HATE myself for making even a slightly bad decision. Now I make huge blunders and just keep playing. This will change starting tomorrow. No more of this nonsense.

I also want to update this blog a lot more often. Doing that will make me play better, since I don't want to post rubbish looking graphs.

Sweet Rake Changes for Super Turbos

2010-04-21T02:27:00.004+05:30

Full Tilt completely redid the buyins and rake for super turbos and the new structure is amazing.

Old 9 mans were 160+9. Now they are 100+3.5 and 200+7! The highest buyin earlier was 320+15, it now goes all the way up to 1000+22.

Heads up used to be 160+4 and is now 100+2 and 200+3.5. You also start with 500 at 10/20 and 2 minute levels as opposed to 300 at 15/30 and 3 minute levels. So there is actually room for some play early on and the push/fold endgame arrives soon enough.

Sadly, I am running awful at 9 mans. A nice 6k below EV in a couple of days. It's so ridiculous.

Towards the end, I was definitely tilting and playing badly, but I kept running worse. I just had to take a break again from 9 mans. So I hit the new awesomely structured heads up games. The red line doesn't work for some reason for the heads up games and that is AMAZING. I no longer care about the red line and just care about winning. When I suck out being a 1% dog, I now let out a Tiger like upper cut instead of being terrified of how badly my red line was falling.

So here is my heads up graph for the last few days -

It was mostly holdem, but I also did play some PLO and Razz. I definitely have an edge in PLO against most people, but the only guys sitting at the Razz HU are guys who are good at it. I think I am decent, but have no idea what to do in marginal spots and end up being too aggro.

I also saw something hilarious while playing heads up. I caught a martingaler!! He would start at the $10 games, and would end up at the $1000 ones if he kept losing. I beat him at the 100 and 200 games twice each. He was awful, playing around 85/15. I saw him sitting at the 1000 buyin, but couldn't muster up the courage to sit.

I really want this not to be my first losing month in a really long time. Got to keep crushing the fish at heads up.

I added the follower widget on the right menu, so follow my blog and get added there!

15 Days to Change Nightmare April

2010-04-15T02:02:00.002+05:30

Half the month is gone, and things are going really bad poker wise. I started the month out playing my usual 9 man super turbos -

I then decided I needed a change of pace, and started playing heads up super turbos -

Put those 2 graphs together, and you get this work of art -

So my EV has been -2000 (sigh)
And I have lost 6000 (sigh)

To make things a little better, I made around 3100 in rakeback and won 1100 in the rake sprint, so I am down less than 2k for the month.

So what does all this lead to?
1. I have realized that Heads Up Super Turbos are not for me. The edges are so thin and unless you find megafish, it's not going to be beatable.
2. My urge to get back to cash is growing.
3. I definitely want to give 9 mans another go.

So I have 15 days to turn this month around and make April fantastic. I will be playing some or all of 9 mans, PLO, rush. I will probably start with 9 mans and if I get off to a good start then I will keep at it. Here is my alltime graph for 9 man super turbos to put things in perspective. The last stretch is a big worry for sure.

Aaaaaand, to make myself feel better, even with the breakeven red line, my overall profit (with rakeback and bonuses) doesn't look that bad.

I have felt better and better as I wrote this blog post. I am definitely going to play 9 mans for a while and see what happens. 200k soon?

Heads Up Super Turbos

2010-04-09T22:51:00.004+05:30

I needed a change of pace from 9 man super turbos. I wasn't playing well, my red line was dropping, it wasn't fun. I discovered Heads Up Super Turbos and am I glad I did! They are soooooooo much fun. I have started loving poker again and found myself playing 4 hour sessions without realizing it's been so long. I've also been getting around 95 per hour in rakeback (2 tabling) as opposed to 55 per hour in 9 mans (7-8 tabling).

Obviously, I don't play any decent players because the rake is not beatable when you start with 10 BBs. You have to find a fish, and keep rematching. I played one guy 111 times, then another 2 guys 100+ times. Today has been a CRAZY day. I was down 5500 at one point, and 45 minutes later I was down 1500, which is where I called it a day. I 2 tabled 2 different fish for around 3 hours and it was sooooooooo profitable.

I am not sure how to show my graphs only against a particular opponent, so I will pull up the 2 fishes' graphs.

Fish 1's graph against me:

I pretty much crushed him (his awful red line), but he ran a little good.

Fish 2's graph against me:

I crushed him as well. Both these guys were consistently losing ~$20 per game. The average time for a game is 48 seconds, so that is burning money fast! The rake is $4 per game, so my red line was pretty much going up at $12 (20-4*2) per game.

My overall HU Super Turbos graph - (3 days of playing)

Poker is fun again, the key is obviously finding the right opponent and exploiting him like crazy. When you play so many super turbos against the same guys, you know their ranges and leaks inside out.

Rake Sprint III Results

2010-04-05T18:40:00.001+05:30

Edit: I did ship the sprint for 1100

What a terrible weekend. The last time my red line went down by 5k, I lost 12k in a day. Atleast that didn't happen. I made around 800 in rakeback, and hopefully should win the rake sprint for another 1100. I just started a session, so will post a more detailed update later. I also want to post my lifetime superturbo graph, to put this latest run in perspective.

I Got Battered Today

2010-04-04T02:10:00.002+05:30

It was just ugly. I will let the graph do the talking:

I got like 440 in rakeback today, which is decent. I just kept running into hands. And I'm not talking about AQ vs AK (which happened a bunch). Stuff like KJ vs KK and T9 vs TT where he can only call with KK. I am not going to let this horrendous red line get me down. Tomorrow is a new day and I am going to play well.

Weekend Rake Sprint III

2010-04-03T01:38:00.000+05:30

I got a nice surprise when I saw an email saying it is already time for the 3rd Weekend Rake Sprint. I got 3rd in the first one and won the second one. I am definitely aiming to win this one. There aren't any other high stakes super turbo players on my rakeback site, so it is all on me to put in the volume this weekend. I will be looking to get 850+ in rakeback this weekend. I managed 815 or so in the last weekend sprint.

They increased the prizepool from $2500 to $4000, however the winner's share only increases from $1000 to $1100. They did increase the number of players paid from 5 to 10. Increasing the prizepool is a good sign though, since it means that these rake sprints have been successful for the site. That leads to more money for the players and for the site.

I took the first 2 days of April off, and the rake sprint will be a nice way to start the month.

March Results

2010-04-01T00:36:00.003+05:30

With 9 days to go for the month, I set myself this goal - Reach 3500 games for the month.

That meant playing 1377 games in 9 days. I ended the month at 3087 games, which is a little short. But I did play 38 hours in the 9 days, so I am happy with my volume and how I played. Here is my graph for the last 9 days -

I ran really well, but my red line was up at just over $4/game, which is very nice. This hot streak has brought me to JUST above EV for the month, and still well below overall.

March results -

My March goals were -

Make 30000 by

Rakeback: 10000 (180 hours or so)

Bonuses: 3000 (Full Tilt Leaderboard and a rake race in mid-March)

Profit: 17000

My March results were -

Made 25000

Rakeback: 6100 (played 120 hours)

Bonuses: ~2800

Profit: 15000

The overall profit should be around 25000, when you include FTPs and ironman. I am very pleased with the month. I think it ties my best month ever. The goals for next month are simply - play as much as I can and play well. I would like to break the 25k barrier, but I doubt that will happen unless I run super hot because I am getting a little busy in real life.

2 Crazy Hands

2010-03-27T01:24:00.001+05:30

This first hand is one of the worst I have seen from an opponent at super turbos

Full Tilt Poker Game #19573836654: $160+$9 Sit & Go (Super Turbo) (149508465), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:31:32 ET - 2010/03/26
Seat 1: robbieg96 (350)
Seat 2: frankw1968 (900)
Seat 4: Hero (300)
Seat 5: Scoss (340)
Seat 6: imbrogio (285)
Seat 7: CaseL11 (200)
Seat 8: genghis888 (325)
Hero posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [4h Qs]
Scoss folds
imbrogio folds
CaseL11 folds
genghis888 calls 60
robbieg96 folds
frankw1968 folds
Hero checks
*** FLOP *** [6d 2c Ac]
Hero checks
genghis888 checks
*** TURN *** [6d 2c Ac] [5s]
Hero checks
genghis888 checks
*** RIVER *** [6d 2c Ac 5s] [8s]
Hero checks
genghis888 checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero shows [4h Qs] Ace Queen high
genghis888 shows [7d 9d] a straight, Nine high
genghis888 wins the pot (120) with a straight, Nine high

The second hand is the worst hand I have played in 16k super turbos

Full Tilt Poker Game #19577753369: $320+$15 Sit & Go (Super Turbo) (149538185), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:45:24 ET - 2010/03/26
Seat 5: Hero (225)
Seat 6: DogGoneGood (1,530)
Seat 7: AlexR81 (90)
Seat 9: mcsplash007 (855)
AlexR81 posts the small blind of 40
mcsplash007 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qh As]
Hero calls 80
DogGoneGood raises to 1,530, and is all in
AlexR81 folds
mcsplash007 folds
Hero calls 145, and is all in
DogGoneGood shows [Ah Kh]
Hero shows [Qh As]
Uncalled bet of 1,305 returned to DogGoneGood
*** FLOP *** [3s 8h Jd]
*** TURN *** [3s 8h Jd] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [3s 8h Jd Qs] [8c]
DogGoneGood shows a pair of Eights
Hero shows two pair, Queens and Eights
Hero wins the pot (570) with two pair, Queens and Eights

The limp was awful. Then after big stack pushed and small stack folded, I got the dreaded "Next level is 50/100" and I had to call. Just a trainwreck.

I had a pretty bad day today but I ran good. EV -1500, but I won like 2500. My EV line is now breakeven for the last 2000 super turbos. I am definitely getting worried now. I will wait till the end of the month and reevaluate.

3 Days Done, 6 To Go

2010-03-26T03:03:00.001+05:30

My goal was to play 150 games per day for the rest of the month (9 days). I have thus far played 356 games in 3 days, which is a little below pace. I really don't think I will be able to match my volume requirements but I will be happy with anything over 100 per day.

All I have been focusing on is making the right decisions and I have even tried to stop refreshing my red line after every game. I need to do this more and more and just worry about playing each hand. Here is my graph of the last 3 days -

I have played around 14 hours in the 3 days and made around 740 in rakeback in addition to this.

My games per hour is ~ 25
My rakeback per hour is ~ 53

I do play quite a bit during non peak hours. I would estimate the above numbers to be around 30 and 60 respectively during peak hours.

I will update again after 3 days unless something spectacular happens. Run well.

Rest of the Month

2010-03-23T02:50:00.000+05:30

After a good start to March, my EV line has been breakeven for over 1000 games. Sigh. But unlike the past, I am doing a lot better at not worrying about it. My goal for the rest of March is -

1. Reach 3500 games for the month.

That's all. That is 1377 more games, which works out to 153 games per day. That should be around 5-6 hours per day, so there really shouldn't be any excuse for me not doing it. I am really curious to see what my red line is at after those games. If it goes up at my overall winrate, I should make around 10k which includes 3k in rakeback.

March so far:

I am pretty excited to start playing regularly again after a week and want to keep crushing. The red line and green line are going up up up.

Holiday

2010-03-21T00:40:00.000+05:30

So I ended up winning the rake sprint for 1000, which brings the weekend profit to 2445, running under EV. Not bad at all.

However, since then I have taken 4-5 days off. That is one of the single biggest advantages of being a professional poker player. You can set your own timings, take days off, and don't report to anyone. I watched the IPL, played football, went to the gym, caught up on tons of TV shows, and even played some live low stakes poker with friends. I thoroughly enjoyed my time off and got a pleasant surprise when I checked today and saw that I am 3rd on the SNG High Limit leaderboard on Full Tilt.

I just played a small session to end the holiday and lost a few hundred, while my EV was +500. Seems like I picked up where I left off!! The plan for the next week is to play as much as possible, despite having lots of fun stuff to do. I am hoping for 25 hours or so.

Rake Sprint II Results

2010-03-15T15:01:00.000+05:30

I rebounded nicely after a bad first day. I won 630 and around 815 in rakeback, for a final profit of 1445. I also ran around 2k below EV. I am just waiting to hear now what I finished in the rake sprint, and I will post the final results. I am starting a session now, so will post more later.

Halfway Through the Sprint

2010-03-14T04:03:00.002+05:30

I got up all excited to play, and had a pretty perfect day with non-poker stuff, and pretty awful day with poker. I played some 5 on 5 football, watched Formula 1 qualifying, IPL, etc etc. Poker, meh. I played well for a while, but then this continuous running bad got to me. I made some pretty bad tilt calls. Bah.

My EV line was still positive for the day. Let's look at some grand totals of how bad I am running.

Today: 3300 below EV
This month: 6500 below EV
This year: 8100 below EV
Alltime: 19000 below EV

This is getting to be no fun anymore.

Weekend Rake Sprint II

2010-03-13T01:26:00.002+05:30

I had another bad day yesterday. I think my red line was at -1.5k, and I lost around that much. But I know I am being stupid by worrying about it. I keep saying this, but it's just all about volume. I took today off because my rakeback site announced the 2nd weekend rake sprint and I wanted to give it my best shot. The top 5 finishers get paid, and the winner gets 1000. I know that I will win if I put in a decent amount of volume, since it's hard to rake much more than a multi-tabling, high stakes, super turbo player.

It starts in 9 hours or so and I am already excited thinking about it. The day off today has helped refresh me mentally. I can't wait to put in 20 hours of super turbos over the weekend and play well.

Having said all that, the goals for this weekend are -
1. 20 hours of playing.
2. Win the Rake Sprint.
3. TAED (Think about every decision) and play well.

Super Turbo Weirdness

2010-03-10T03:30:00.001+05:30

Let's talk red line. Today was going fine... after 150 games, my red line was +1500. Then something happened. I don't know what. I started running into hands, shoving WAY too wide, and making dumb calls. My red line ended up at -700 through 235 super turbos. For those last 100 games, it felt like I was the fish in the game. WHY DO I FEEL THAT WAY? I have crushed these games for over 15k games, but when my red line nosedives over 100 games, I doubt myself.

I just hate seeing the red line down. I played 9 hours and it's down 700. It makes me feel like the day has been a waste.

And I KNOW that what I just wrote is nonsense. The red line has swings of it's own. I need to go back to the Attitude Change that I talked about earlier. I have to keep putting in the games and play well. I definitely didn't play my A game today.

I am going to post my graph of the year so far, which will put that latest red line downswing in perspective. It's so silly to get worked up over it.

Whoever said that playing poker professionally was easy is so wrong.

I actually made 1300 today, but it didn't even strike me that I was up. I am so obsessed with the red line. Before I knew of it, I would refresh my cashier 100 times a session. Now I refresh my red line 100 times a session.

My only goal for tomorrow is to play a decent amount and think about every decision. If I do that, then the red line will take care of itself.

Running Bad

2010-03-09T03:00:00.001+05:30

Warning: This post consists of me whining.

I played the golf tournament yesterday and shot 80, which is decent for how little I have been playing. I thought I would put in a lot of volume today, and I did. 7.5 hours, 206 super turbos, -3700. UGH. 4000 below EV. I am playing so well, I just cannot catch a heater like I did in November. I am not 16k below EV in super turbos overall. Puke.

I have never been happier about the way I'm playing though. I have tweaked (mostly tightened) my ranges in certain spots, and it seems to be working.

Here is today's awful graph:

Even though I am playing well, I am making a few mistakes. The goal is to cut those out, play perfectly, and RUN GOOD. The next few months are going to consist of me CRUSHING these games. I reached 6 figures from super turbos a couple of days ago, and want to make another 6 figures soon.

Good night.

March So Far

2010-03-06T23:28:00.004+05:30

March has been great so far. I have put in lots of volume - 31 hours and 776 9 man super turbos. There were some 6 max ones mixed in. I ended up like -2.8k at them, running 1.6k under EV and decided to never play them anymore. I don't know the subtleties of them and don't want the bother of learning a new game. If there aren't enough 169s are running, I just add a few 75s and 45s.

I am playing well, and running at EV. However, my red line is definitely running good. It's at 9.5% through 776 games which is definitely not sustainable. I'll take it though :)

I have started game selecting some 335s. I really don't want to play every one that goes off. That can only lead to crazy downswings. I have restricted myself to 4 or 5 fishy ones a day. This way, I get to play some really +EV 335s and they don't influence my overall results too much.

This is my overall graph at the 335s, the last 10 of which are included in my monthly graph above.

I am now up to 6th in profit at 9 man super turbos for the year. I want to keep climbing. The only way that will happen is if I put in lots of volume. I am taking tomorrow off since I am playing a golf tournament, but next week is going to consist of lots of grinding. I am off to watch the Man United Wolves game now!

Attitude Change

2010-03-03T02:51:00.000+05:30

I have realized that I need a different way of thinking of poker for me to take my game/profits to another level.

Old Attitude:

My old attitude comprised of me playing lots and lots to get unstuck when I was losing, and not play much when I was winning. I used to feel good about myself, look at graphs and stats, and not play when things were going well. Also, I used to keep dreading the awful 100+ buyin downswing that can happen in a flash at super turbos. This attitude has to go.

New Attitude:

I KNOW that I am crushing super turbos. I have made 200 an hour for a pretty huge sample. I need to think that if I play 20 hours of solid super turbo poker, then I should make 4000 in those 20 hours.. I need to just put in the volume, even when I am running hot. No more gloating, just hardcore grinding. I have no excuses not to play lots.

Having said that, I am pleased with my start to March. I have played 13 hours in the 2 days, and am up around 3300 after rakeback, running just a little below EV.

March

2010-03-01T12:10:00.000+05:30

I have made somewhere between 17 and 20k this year. I did take 3 weeks off due to grad school applications, and my volume hasn't been great when I have been playing.

Having said that, I have BIG plans for March. I intend to put in lots of volume. I was also thinking earlier about my best month ever, and I think it was the month I started the blog - around 25k. But I am not sure exactly what it is. I thus want to have my best month ever and I want to shatter my previous record. I will be aiming for 30k. I won't be doing a challenge though, because that just puts me under pressure and makes me results oriented. I will be satisfied if I put in lots of volume and the red line goes up. A little run good wouldn't hurt!

How do I intend to make the 30k?
Rakeback: 10k (180 hours or so)
Bonuses: 3k (Full Tilt Leaderboard and a rake race in mid-March)
Profit: 17k

Let's hope this works out.

I just wanted to congratulate Aaron "The Baron" Barone for his great month. Having a 10k month playing the 16s is really awesome. I owe a lot of my success at super turbos to him. He has sweated me a couple of times and we have talked a lot about various spots. Do it again in March, The Baron.

My Blog So Far

2010-02-27T21:35:00.004+05:30

I just wanted to thank everyone for reading this blog and posting comments. I have enjoyed updating it immensely and it has definitely helped me with poker. I hate updating this blog after losing or breaking even, so it gives me more of a motivation to play well! If there is anything particular you want to see or if you have any questions, please leave a comment.

It's pretty amazing that people from 54 countries have read my blog.

I thought I would brag a little and show my lifetime super turbos graph. I figured out a way to add bonuses into the graph (Full Tilt Leaderboards and Rake Races). I definitely want to reach 100k next month. That would be pretty insane. I love SNGs and Super Turbos because of stuff like this. I love stats, looking at leaderboards, finish distributions, close ICM decisions, etc etc. Super Turbos are definitely not for everyone, but I think they suit me really well.

I need to stop looking at results and just play loads and loads. The red line will take care of itself if I put in the volume and play well.

I will do an end of the month post tomorrow, with March goals. I definitely want to play lots and play well. Thanks for reading!

Weekend Results

2010-02-22T13:49:00.007+05:30

Update 24/2: I got 3rd in the rake race for $500. The guy who got 2nd played 27 hours and made $667 in rakeback. It makes me feel really bad that I didn't put in more volume.

It was a good weekend, but I didn't really put in the amount of volume that I wanted to. I played 10 hours, and made around $520 in rakeback plus whatever I won. I am going to play right now, so this will be a very short post.

Graph for the weekend:

And here is entire hand history of a 6-max $169 SNG that lasted exactly 9 hands and 4 minutes, which I got 2nd in!

Day 1 of 2

2010-02-21T11:38:00.001+05:30

I played around 6 hours, which is a pretty big fail since I wanted to get $1150 in rakeback in the actual games this weekend. I managed around $300. It wasn't entirely my fault since there were so few super turbos running during the non peak hours. I played a few $335s for the first time ever. I won 2, but ended up down a little overall in them. I will be game selecting those.

It was a good day overall though. I have $850 in rakeback to make today. It's probably not going to happen, but I still want to win the rake race, and put in a decent amount of volume today.

Weekend Challenge

2010-02-20T13:19:00.001+05:30

My rakeback site is having a weekend rake race, with $850 for the winner and down to $150 for 5th. I want to win it playing super turbos.

Goals for the weekend challenge:
1. 2,000 in rakeback (850 for the spring, and 1150 through games... which would mean 474 $169s and around 45% rakeback)
2. Make correct decisions, which should show up in my red line.

I will update with graphs after tonight, and after tomorrow, when the rake race is finished.

I have been playing quite a bit of rush as well. I got off to a great start, but then started playing badly after a while. I really really need to improve my ability of playing my A game all the time.

Confusion

2010-02-16T17:02:00.005+05:30

It's been a day since I started playing poker again after my break, and I have no idea what to play. I played some super turbos, got off to a good start, then gave it all back. I played some NL200 Rush, and did pretty well.

The thing is - I KNOW I can beat cash/PLO/Rush for a decent clip. There is actually some skill involved. I am not sure about Super Turbos anymore. Everytime I have a losing session (with a losing red line) at Super Turbos, I start doubting myself. My lifetime Super Turbo graph obviously shows that I can crush it, but recently, my red line has had a few downswings.

Here are the graphs from today, first one is super turbos, second one is NL200 Rush.

Obviously, it is a super small Super Turbos sample, but I hate not knowing if I can beat them. Which is again a stupid question if you look at my lifetime graph. Yet, I keep wondering.

I think I will keep playing a bit of both and see how it goes.

Finally...

2010-02-14T21:03:00.001+05:30

I have finally completed my grad school applications after around 3 weeks of not playing poker. My 3 main activities for the next few months are going to be poker, golf, and the gym... sounds amazing, if I do say so myself!!

I am excited to play poker again after such a long break. I think I will play whatever I feel like for the rest of the month (Super Turbos, PLO, Rush, MTTs) and then re-assess at some point. I want to get a decent sample in of super turbos to make sure I can still crush them.

OMG I just noticed that 320+15 Super Turbos are out!!! Does anyone know if these run often during peak hours? There are none running now. 50k downswings have got to be possible playing them. I don't think I will play them unless I see a soft lineup. But this is great because the red pros should play them, which would make the 160+9 Super Turbos a lot softer.

I plan on updating this blog quite often with how poker is going. It's time to make lots of money.

40th in the Million Dollar Freeroll

2010-02-07T08:05:00.000+05:30

asdjasjdjadh.

How do MTT pros do it? For those that don't know about it, Pokerstars holds a quarterly 1 million dollar freeroll for their Supernova players. A little less than 5000 people entered, and I decided to take a break from my break from poker and play it. (Did that make sense?). It's now 8am, and I busted in 40th for 1890. It was 150k for the win. I feel pretty shattered. How do people play MTTs for a living?

It's now back to grad school applications. I am hoping to finish them by Tuesday, then I will start a new poker challenge. It will be something along the lines of 1000 Super Turbos, 10000 hands of Rush Poker, and 10000 hands of PLO. I played some 1/2 PLO today during the freeroll, and won 200, but ran 1000 below EV. I forgot how much fun it is.

My next post will be only after I finish my applications. Then it's time for the new challenge!

Federer vs Murray & Sunday Tourneys?

2010-01-30T21:03:00.006+05:30

No poker and grad school applications means that I have had a lot of time for watching the Australian Open, cricket, random movies, and whatever's on TV. I did get one essay completed, so the rest should be a lot easier with some modifications. After that, it's nonstop poker!!

The men's Australian Open this year has had many incredible matches, and the final - Federer vs Murray - is fitting. I don't really play a lot of tennis, but watching it is fun and I am hoping for a great final. My pick is Murray to win 8-6 in the 5th set.

I saw this gem of a point on youtube. Is it the best tennis rally ever?

As for the WBCOOP (World Blogger Championship of Online Poker 2010), I haven't played any events due to the essays, but I just might play the main event. If I do, then I think I will also play the Turbo Takedown, Battle of the Planets (I have had a spare ticket forever) and the Sunday Million. It should be fun!

If anyone wants some action on the Federer Murray match or some last longers in the Sunday tournies, then leave a comment or your AIM, and we can talk! I need to keep my degen side happy since I haven't been playing poker :)

Eagle!

2010-01-27T18:31:00.001+05:30

I had an eagle playing golf after a loooooong time, maybe 2 years. It was a 510 yard par 5 downwind. My drive was a few inches from being in the rough and I then flushed my hybrid to 1 foot! It felt pretty good. That's only my 6th eagle ever. I feel my first hole in one coming!!

No Poker For a While

2010-01-26T01:21:00.004+05:30

I made a goal list 2 posts ago for this week:

Poker:
Yes Start playing again
No 30 hours
No Solid poker
Yes Enjoy myself

Golf:
Yes We have a very good professional coming down next week and I have booked 2 lessons with him - a short game lesson and a long game one. I hope to make the most of it.

Others:
Yes Finish writing atleast 1 essay for the applications to Masters programs. Hopefully, finish 3 or 4.
Yes Get a haircut.

I basically finished all the non poker goals. The essay is actually only 60% done, but I consider that a success because I have put it off for so long. I did the essay and got a haircut only because of this blog and the goal list, so I know the blog is life +EV

I have decided to not play poker until I complete my college applications. Once those are done, it's time for some serious volume and grindage! I am not sure what I will be playing though. I want to play rush poker since it is so much fun. I also want to keep playing super turbos, MTTs, PLO. I hope to finish the essays and applications by the end of this month, then it's non stop poker for the next 6-7 months!!

Don't Know What To Do

2010-01-20T01:28:00.000+05:30

I have never experienced anything like this in my 5 years of poker. I just cannot control how well I play. I know something is a wrong move, but I do it anyway. My EV line is down 5k since its peak earlier this month. I played some Rush Poker on FullTilt, which is NL50, and promptly lost 1k. I wish I could say I ran bad, but I really didn't. I just keep making stupid plays.

I am lucky that my form of tilting doesn't involve moving up and blowing my roll. I just spew and spew at whatever limits I play, till I feel so ashamed at what I'm doing. Losing 20 buyins at NL50 means I was seriously playing terrible. Even when I play super turbos, I feel myself making bad calls and pushes.

I thought the 5 day break would help, but I have gone straight back into this stupid form of playing. Sometimes I need to remind myself how lucky I am with regards to poker. Most players (including me when I was starting) would dream of having my roll and playing the games I do. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I need to get myself out of this funk. I need to start getting excited about making a +0.5% push, instead of just thinking "$#$A it, it's only NL50, I will just tilt shove". I mean, I lost a $400 pot at NL50, drawing to 6 outs on the river. Stupid Rush Poker. It is unbelievably addicting though.

I think I need some more time off. The next 2 days are going to be full of golf. Maybe I will finish all college application work, and then hit poker hard again.

Goals & Schedule for the Next Week

2010-01-18T17:18:00.001+05:30

I haven't played any poker since my last blog post and have really enjoyed my time off. I have been doing a lot of thinking/reading/analyzing and am getting the itch to play again. I have also been playing around with the idea of doing some sort of challenge in February, so stay tuned!

Goals & Schedule for the next week -

Poker:
Start playing again
30 hours
Solid poker
Enjoy myself

Golf:
We have a very good professional coming down next week and I have booked 2 lessons with him - a short game lesson and a long game one. I hope to make the most of it.

Others:
Finish writing atleast 1 essay for the applications to Masters programs. Hopefully, finish 3 or 4.
Get a haircut.

Random Thoughts

2010-01-14T20:53:00.002+05:30

I've been thinking a lot about how goal oriented I have become since starting to play super turbos. I think it's a little silly. I am 23 years old and am making more money that I thought I could have at this point of time. I think it's time to stop worrying about how much I make per month and just concentrate on playing the best poker I can. And more importantly, it's really important for me to just start enjoying playing poker more. I have taken the last couple of days of after a bad run and am enjoying relaxing and playing golf. I shot 79 after playing for the first time in 2 months, so that was nice.

For the rest of the month, I am going to not be so results and goal oriented and try to play lots and play well. My super turbo graph right now is depressing so I will post it after the weekend, where hopefully it looks a little better. When I was running badly in the past, my EV (red) line would still be going up without fail. Now my EV line is actually swinging on its own and has been going down. I am really worried about that. I think it's a combination of 2 factors - a) the games getting tougher and b) me not playing the best. I am not sure how much of each it is, but if it continues like this then I might have to move back to cash.

I really hope that my EV line keeps going up because otherwise super turbos are just too swingy and not fun.

Boom!

2010-01-09T05:15:00.000+05:30

My goals from 12 hours ago were -

1. Get back to playing well
2. Back to even. 1 timeeeeeeeee

12 hours later -

1. +3.7k
2. Played well... felt like I got in the zone. Never felt like that before. Was nailing ranges pretty spot on
3. 11 hour day

I feel sooo relieved and happy now. After that morning session, I was really upset with poker. All is well now again. Final graph for today - 227 tournies

The Blog Jinx

2010-01-08T16:38:00.003+05:30

Good start to the day, right?

I am getting pretty fed up of how bad I am running. 14k below EV in super turbos lifetime now. I started off playing well, then made the mistake of signing up for some $24/90 mans where I didn't really care how I did. That led to some bad plays, which tilted me, and I played badly in the super turbos. But still... when am I going to be up 4k for the day when my EV is at 0?

Goals for the rest of today -
1. Get back to playing well
2. Back to even. 1 timeeeeeeeee

WBCOOP

2010-01-08T01:36:00.000+05:30

2 posts in a day!

Thanks Daleroxxu for making me notice this. It should be some fun tournaments.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! Bloggers can register to play for free in the WBCOOP, if you don’t have a PokerStars account you can get your Free Poker Download at PokerStars

Registration code: 314321

Fresh Start

2010-01-07T22:58:00.016+05:30

A new year, new goals, new leaderboards, and a new start has me excited about playing poker again after the massive downswing to end last year. I watched all of Big Bang Theory after the downswing, and it is one of my favourite shows ever. This video might be the funniest bit of TV I have ever seen. I never laugh out loud, and I was laughing for a good 2 minutes.

I have changed things up a bit for 2010. I am not sticking to solely super turbos. I have started mixing in some of the higher buyin 45 and 90 mans and the odd MTT. I am also cutting back on the number of 75s I play and trying to play only 169s, while making better decisions at them. The super turbos having been going well, here is my graph on them for the year -

I'm up around 6k on the year. I won a 69/45 man and got a 5th, but also bricked in a few MTT's and some other 45/90 mans. It has been a good start, and I hope it continues

I attached a screenshot below of the leaderboards I am in for 2010, and that I ended up in for 2009. 4th in overall super turbo profit for last year is pretty cool, since I played only 4 months and had that massive downswing. The one for this year that I really like is 16th in total profit on Full Tilt in all SNGs.

Ending 2009 and 2010 Goals

2010-01-03T14:12:00.003+05:30

2009:

I would rate 2009 as a passable year. I didn't play for 3 months in the middle, and even the months that I did play, I wasn't happy with how many hours I put in. I started the year going for Supernova Elite and stopped that when I took the 3 month break. I was playing PLO then, and ended the year playing Super Turbos. It looks like I love variance! That is not the case at all though, since I am probably one of the most overrolled players that exist.

I made roughly 130k in 2009, which is decent. I sadly lost all the PLO data due to my laptop crashing in the middle of the year, so all I have is my super turbos graph since August, when I first started playing them.

2010:

I am not sure how much longer I will play super turbos, but for now I have put too much time into them to abandon them. So here are my poker goals for 2010.

1. 250k profit

2. No.1 Super Turbo player in the world

3. Maintain Supernova on Stars by playing once a week on there.

4. Mix in more MTTs, and play well in them rather than blowing up.

5. Keep writing in this blog.

I am about to start playing for the year after a week or so off.

December Challenge - Epic Fail

2009-12-31T15:47:00.000+05:30

I haven't played in the last few days.. I decided to call it a year and take some time off. I posted my December graphs below. The final result for December is +7947, including rakeback. When you include leaderboard money, it should be close to a 10k month. I guess that's not terrible when I have ran 14k below EV.

This post will be short since I will recap 2009 in a post tomorrow, and set some goals for 2010. Happy new year everyone.

Blog Contest Flip

2009-12-28T22:02:00.000+05:30

It was a pretty epic flip, I enjoyed it!

I have continued my run bad since my last update... EV going up, winnings going down. Maybe this is the start of the run good?

PokerStars Game #37306987730: Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2009/12/28 11:27:14 ET
Table 'Psyche' 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: mrrugball ($50 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero ($50 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind $0.25
mrrugball: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qh 5s]
Hero: raises $49.50 to $50 and is all-in
mrrugball: calls $49.50 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Qs Th Qd]
*** TURN *** [Qs Th Qd] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [Qs Th Qd Qc] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mrrugball: shows [6h 2d] (three of a kind, Queens)
Hero: shows [Qh 5s] (four of a kind, Queens)
Hero collected $99.50 from pot

What's Going On??

2009-12-26T03:13:00.001+05:30

This downswing is reaching silly proportions now. I had a pretty decent day and my EV line was above 0. But yes, I lost another 3k. It's getting stupid.

Outside poker, things couldn't be better. This game just frustrates me so much. Maybe if I post my graph of this downswing, my luck will change? Who knows. I just need to get on the right side of the poker gods. Here is the puke graph since December 15th.

That's an astounding 16.5k below EV, and 110 buyins below EV. I have obviously not played my best during this stretch, but it's still breakeven and profitable when you include rakeback. The last few days have actually been me playing well, but I just continue to lose.

My profit is now at 10564 for the month and unless I get on a real heater, this challenge is going to be very hard to complete. My single goal for the rest of the month is to play solid poker and make good decisions.

Quick Update

2009-12-25T14:05:00.000+05:30

The flag counter just hit 30 flags with a visitor from Malaysia, so that means mrrugball won the contest as he/she predicted 24/12 and that was the closest. Leave your AIM/GTalk ID here, and we will do the flip.

I'm at +13723 with exactly a week left. I am not giving up and am looking to play a ton this week. I hope some run good comes my way. I got some new songs and am ready to grind!

Happy holidays everyone.

Powering Through

2009-12-22T04:04:00.002+05:30

Powering through reminds me of how awesome college was. Everyone had to "power through" the first awful tasting beer on a Saturday night after a long day of drinking on Friday. These last few days have been me powering through these super turbos. I have tried my best to keep my chin up after the brutal downswing and just put in volume. Although I have been making a conscious effort to think about every decision, it hasn't been the easiest thing to do being like 15k down.

I have been doing quite a lot of non-poker things, which has helped keep me sane. One of my friends got some sweet lights in his backyard, and we have been playing 5 on 5 football (soccer) almost everyday, starting sometimes late at night. I went out drinking last night with friends, and all these distractions has really helped me get my mind back on track. I am really determined to complete this challenge.

Here are my results from the last 4 days

Day 18: +1422, 0.9 hours
Day 19: -2149, 7.1 hours
Day 20: +730, 2.2 hours
Day 21: +3060, 6.1 hours

Plus I made around 850 in rakeback, so I'm at around +4000 for the last 4 days, running at EV. Today is the first day where I felt like I played really solidly throughout, and the red line reflected that.

Graph for the last 4 days:

I'm 5th in the leaderboard for the month, and pretty close to 2nd. I think a realistic goal is to shoot for 2nd.

The number of countries is up to 27 now... only 3 more to go until there is a winner in the blog contest!

Overall Profit after day 21: 15438

Blog Contest and Downswinging

2009-12-18T03:48:00.001+05:30

Blog Contest:

I decided to stop waiting for Full Tilt's reply on my blog contest, so I emailed PokerStars an hour ago. They already replied and gave me the go ahead!

I added this super cool flag counter to the right side of my blog. It counts the number of unique visitors from each country that read my blog. I added it a week ago, and currently there are 24 countries represented. I want you to guess the date when my blog will reach 30 countries. In the entry, I want you to include the following details -

1. Date when it reaches 30 countries
2. The number of unique visitors USA has on that day (tiebreaker)
3. Your PokerStars username

Leave your answers in a comment. I will likely leave it open for two days, but get your entries in ASAP because I will close it whenever I feel like!

The winner gets $50 sent to them on PokerStars, but has to flip it with me at a cash table! I will post the hand history here. If you're reading my blog and don't have a PokerStars ID (mostly my real life friends), just put your name on there and if you win, create an ID, and we'll flip it.

Downswinging:

Poker is no fun when you're on a downswing, and this current run is the worst I have ever experienced. I have had a 15k downswing at PLO, but that took a month. This one happened in 3 days. It's pretty devastating and I'm doing my best to not let it affect me. But, it definitely has, and I have not been playing my best. I really really really really want to get back to playing my A game in the next few days. It's going to be a long and tough struggle to complete this challenge, but I am still confident of doing it.

Overall Profit after day 18: 11483

The graph is really nasty. I went from being 9k above EV to 3k below EV. The worst part of the graph isn't the actual money I have lost... it's the stupid red line actually going down for the first time in super turbos. I am definitely not making good decisions, and that is changing starting immediately.

Worst Day Ever

2009-12-16T05:32:00.002+05:30

I just completed my worst day of poker ever. The final damage was -11k. My EV line was around -3k, so I ran pretty horribly, but didn't play my best. I am pretty shocked, but am looking forward to tomorrow and getting back to my A game. I didn't even mention my internet going out on me as I was winding up just now. Ugh.

A guy called "scoss" at my tables berated me constantly. Anyone know who he is? He repeatedly pointed out that I was down 10k for the day and just kept saying stupid stuff. That actually helped me play better, so thank you whoever you are... jerk.

Golf Shenanigans + Poker Update

2009-12-14T02:19:00.002+05:30

I played this golf tournament yesterday. It was a shotgun start and our group started on the 3rd hole. It was really really windy and none of us were playing well. Through 16 holes, I was 12 over, and one of my friends was 11 over. Since we started on the 3rd, we were on the 18th green after playing 16 holes. This is when we all decided to just walk to the clubhouse and call it a day. It saved us a long walk back from the 2nd green and also put an end to the bad golf we were playing.

As we are in the clubhouse and watching group after group come in, we realize that the winning score was 13 over!! It was windy, but not THAT windy. There was a 2 handicapper who shot 15 over. Everyone collectively hacked. Talk about throwing away a chance to win a tournament. The last 2 holes were straight downwind, so both my friend and I had a great chance of getting 1st and 2nd. I have never stopped playing a tournament midway, and lesson learnt for sure!!

Now to the poker. I didn't play yesterday after golf. Today was a solid day though. The red line was at 3000, and I won around 1600 pre-rakeback.

Graph for today:

I'm very happy with how I'm playing and hope this continues.

Overall Profit after day 13: 24600

I'm 6th on the leaderboard for the month with 10770 points. The leader is at 14300. The leaderboard is only about how much you play. I've played 56 hours this month, so it's pretty insane how much the guys ahead of me have played.

Tomorrow will be the end of 2 weeks of the challenge. I will post an overall graph and some stats... unless I run really bad and don't feel like it!

Satisfying Day

2009-12-12T01:45:00.005+05:30

I had set myself 3 goals for today -

1. Only Super Turbos - Done
2. Good Decisions - For the most part
3. Red line at +1500 - Done, at +1937

I focused on making good decisions and not overloading on too many tables, and it ended up being a good day. I made less money than yesterday, but the red line was up.

Today's graph -

I'm playing a round of golf tomorrow afternoon after more than a month, so that should be fun. Depending on how late I get back and how much I drink, I may or may not play poker tomorrow.

Overall Profit after day 11: 22794

It's Dark

2009-12-11T03:46:00.005+05:30

The current just went and I can't sleep because of that, so here I am writing a blog post. I do have a UPS that lasts for 4 hours, and my laptop battery lasts around 3 hours. So for poker, the current going is not -EV, but for it is definitely life -EV.

Today was very similar to yesterday, it wasn't a day full of perfect decisions. In my first set, I was talking to a couple of poker friends on skype, discussing the pros and cons of super turbos. That was fun and reminded me of why I play enjoy them. I probably wasn't concentrating completely on the super turbos, but that happened right from the beginning when I loaded up a couple of MTT's.

Today's graph:

Goals for tomorrow -
1. Only Super Turbos
2. Good Decisions
3. Red line at +1500

I'm quite unhappy about the red line being just above 0. I did run well, but as I said earlier, I am obsessed with my red line. All I care about is it going steadily upwards. If that happens, then I know the money will follow if I put in the volume.

Overall Profit after day 10: 21221 (around 9000 above EV)

Here's a fun hand from today. I had no idea what on earth to do until DogGoneGood called!

Full Tilt Poker $160+$9 Sit & Go (Super Turbo)
Seat 3: Adam Junglen (960)
Seat 5: cal3274 (60)
Seat 8: DogGoneGood (1,520)
Seat 9: Hero (160)
DogGoneGood posts the small blind of 50
Hero posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qh Qc]
Adam Junglen raises to 960, and is all in
cal3274 folds
DogGoneGood calls 910
Hero folds
Adam Junglen shows [Ah Th]
DogGoneGood shows [8s Ks]
*** FLOP *** [5h 3s 8d]
*** TURN *** [5h 3s 8d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [5h 3s 8d Jh] [2d]
Adam Junglen shows Ace Jack high
DogGoneGood shows a pair of Eights
DogGoneGood wins the pot (2,020) with a pair of Eights

I need the electricity to come back NOW!!

TAED TAED TAED

2009-12-10T02:21:00.002+05:30

I played around 7 hours today, but it seemed like I played forever. That's because it wasn't one of my best days... I didn't play well, I didn't concentrate, I autopiloted.

Note to self:
THINK ABOUT EVERY DECISION
THINK ABOUT EVERY DECISION
THINK ABOUT EVERY DECISION

There, I got that off my chest.

I played 3 sessions today -

1. I started my first session by joining a $6.50 Super Turbo MTT and the Turbo Hundo ($100 MTT). I final tabled the 6.50 and busted in like 20th in the Turbo Hundo. Pretty standard, right? Except, I put all my focus into the MTT's, because it had been a while since I played one and it just felt nice. As a result, I played pretty horribly in the Super Turbos and lost a bit.

2. I played only Super Turbos in my 2nd session. However, I tried a new setup by having my monitor and my laptop both as screens. I put the Full Tilt lobby on my laptop, and all my tables on my monitor. This saved me the hassle of constantly minimizing and restoring the lobby while registering. Then I had this problem - Link to 2p2 Thread. I broke even for the session.

3. For my last session of the day, I reminded myself about making the best decisions in every SNG, and pretty much did that. I got it back to slightly positive for the day, and more importantly my red line went up quite a bit.

I really really HATE not playing well and making instacalls and instapushes that I immediately realize are bad after I do it. That's why I need to keep thinking about every decision.

This has just been a rambling entry, but that's how I feel right now - happy this day is over and looking forward to tomorrow.

Overall profit after day 9: 17,744

Day 8: Didn't play
Day 9: +388

I had a nice day off yesterday, catching up on some TV shows and going to the gym. I am still waiting for the go-ahead from Full Tilt for the blog contest. Good night!

Week 1

2009-12-08T02:58:00.003+05:30

After 1 week of the challenge, I am more than halfway through with my goal. Heaters FTW.

Day 1: +3378, 4.6 hours
Day 2: +205, 5.6 hours
Day 3: +37, 3.1 hours
Day 4: -185, 4.6 hours
Day 5: +6759, 5.4 hours
Day 6: +5393, 4.7 hours
Day 7: +1769, 3.4 hours

Overall profit after week 1: 17356, 31.5 hours played, 925 Super Turbos

Graph after week 1:

I'm around 7000 above EV, so even if I ran neutral, it would have still been a 10k week. I'm really pleased with how it's going and I hope the rest of the challenge goes like this!

Back to Back

2009-12-07T03:29:00.010+05:30

I have quite a lot to write about, let's start with

Poker:

I am on such a ridiculous heater, and am loving it. This is the first time ever I have had back to back 5k days. The only downside to me running so well, is that I am not putting in the amount of volume I wanted to for the leaderboard. I'm not complaining though :)

Here is the graph of today's heater -

I was thinking about my future at super turbos. Unless Full Tilt adds a higher buyin level, this is as good as I can ever hope to do, which is not fun to think about. At every other type of poker I have played, there was always a higher level that I could aim for or look forward to. I guess I could always go back to PLO or even try some regular turbos for a change. I was chatting with James Akenhead in one of the super turbos, and asked him if had thought about higher buyins. He said that he had already suggested it to Full Tilt. Even for people who don't want to play higher than 169s, having a higher buyin would help them since a lot of the good regs and red name pros would move up.

Overall Profit after day 6: 15,587
Leaderboard: 7th with 5400 points, leader is at 7500

Golf:

I think I might play less poker for the next couple of days. I am recording the final round of the Chevron World Challenge which I will watch sometime tomorrow. I also plan on playing golf in the next couple of days. I haven't played in a couple of months, and am getting the itch to play again. My handicap was 5 at one point, and now it's 8, because I have lost a ridiculous amount of distance. I never used to hit the ball far to begin with, and now I hit the ball as long as a 11 year old. I really need to practice, but am lacking the motivation after college golf.

Blog Contest?

I thought of an interesting idea for a contest for people who read this blog. It involves free money, guesswork, and flips. I sent an email to Full Tilt to confirm that this is fine with them. Once they give me the green light, I will post details here. Expect that in the next few days!

Holy Balls, What a Day

2009-12-06T02:38:00.008+05:30

Thank you for introducing me to that phrase Dave. Today was just an insane day. It's my best SNG day ever, surpassing the previous 5k day. The next time I run bad, I am going to look back on this post and remind myself about this heater. It's super fun playing well and winning every single allin. Today's graph is below, holy balls.

Overall Profit after day 5: 10,194
Leaderboard: 4th

On a completely different note, I was pretty bummed after the 2006 football World Cup, when England lost to Portugal on penalties in the quarterfinal. After that happened, I wrote this on my facebook profile - "england - world cup winners in 2010". The World Cup draw for 2010 was made yesterday, and England have themselves a pretty easy group, including an intriguing match against USA.

My prediction for Group C -

1. England

2. USA

3. Slovenia

4. Algeria