All Aboard!

Ha. Now I'm down to one post every other month.

Well, we finally sold our house. It only took about 3 1/2 weeks to get an offer that held up, but it felt more like 3 1/2 months. What an emotional roller-coaster. We had an open house every weekend, and got an offer each week, but the first two potential buyers both backed out after a couple of days. Then, after getting the third offer, there was still the agonizingly slow process of having home inspections done before the buyer finally removed all contingencies.

And then there's that whole circus of packing everything up and moving, and at the same time having our son starting school. Whew.

The end result is we sold the house at a little under what we originally listed for and I'll be the first to say I am grateful to get that. Watching what is happening in the local real estate market is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I've been looking at charts at a local realtor's site, and everything is going downhill (from a seller's perspective): pending sales are down, inventory is shooting almost straight up, and I'm seeing more houses sitting and eventually dropping their asking prices. The charts go back over a year and it is obvious this is much more than a seasonal slowdown. Is this the beginning of the end of the Housing Bubble? Put my money on "Yes".

Poker news? Alas, there is none. Living with my parents for the next few months, I will not be playing any poker online and very little live. Interestingly enough, I am not missing it at all. I think the shock and stress of selling my house and moving made me realize I have much more to be thinking about than a $10 SNG, heh.

When will I post next? At this rate, maybe not until December.

For Sale!

So I'm down to posting once a month. Why even bother? Well, it's not like I ever expected people to read this. I always intended to use this blog as a place to keep track of my poker related experiences, in case I ever wanted to take a trip in the Way Back Machine. The fact that someone else *could* read it helps me keep things organized.

So, what's happened since my last post?

In poker news: things suck. For a long time, $10+1 SNGs were the one saving grace I had. I was running at about 50% ITM and almost 40% ROI; numbers I was very happy with. Then about two weeks ago, it all went downhill. I think over the last two weeks, my ITM is about 20%. I don't even want to think about what my ROI is.

The biggest difference I've seen is much tighter play. Used to be you could fold just about every hand in the first 3 levels and be down to 5 players, giving you a decent shot at finishing ITM. Not any more. Now the norm is to see 9 or 10 players getting to level 4. By that time, if you haven't won any big pots, it's pretty much a push and pray game.

Is there a bright side to this? Yes! It is forcing me to change my game. I know I have to get involved in more hands early on, and I am slowly modifying my approach to the game.

Still, it's tough when luck conspires against you at the same time. Case in point: in 4 consecutive SNGs, I was crippled or busted while holding top tier starting hands. AA lost to a flopped flush, KK lost to a flopped straight, AKs lost twice. 4 SNGs, 4 great starting hands, 4 times out in 6th or worse. Ah, what can you do.

In non-poker news: my life is in chaos. But it's been getting better the last couple of days. My wife decided she wanted a new house. She found one, and I liked it. Knowing that I would hear the same thing every 2 or 3 months, I agreed, but made sure she knew what our financial situation would be -- we'll be taking on a much bigger loan to get this new house.

So, in the last 3 weeks I've been taking care of paperwork for the new house, getting the old house ready for selling (more work than I ever imagined), dealing with a realtor to sell my house, having my wife's parents staying with us from Korea, and taking a trip down to Disneyland for the July 4th weekend (including the hassle of renting a minivan from the Oakland airport).

The good thing is, the trip to Disneyland is over. It was a great time, especially with my 4-year old, but exhausting. My father-in-law flew back to Korea, so it's a little less crowded. And the house is finally ready to list. I feel like I can finally take a breath and relax.

When I post in August, I hope I'll be able to write about selling the house, and I really hope I can write that we got more than we listed for!

Random Thoughts

Two weeks gone, just like that.

I believe most poker players at one time or another entertain the fantasy of going pro. I certainly did when I was getting started, but I always took it for what it was: a daydream. After several months of grinding it out at the micro-limit tables, I can see poker for what it is to me: a fun, interesting hobby. Certainly not a hobby I would want to turn into a job.

My bankroll continues to grow, but ever so sloooowly. I should just be thankful that it's at the point where a few losing sessions don't get me counting dollars. Looking back, a $50 starting buyin at PokerRoom was too small, and I was lucky that variance took me up first before swinging back down.

Online poker continues to be my fix, but I used to play in a weekly home game with a few friends. Nothing big, but it was always nice to hang out, drink and play some cards. When Matthew was born, that was put on hold indefinitely. Now that he's almost sleeping through the night, I got the green light from my wife to play again. It won't be every week, but it will be fun to get back into it.

In non-poker news, we're heading to Disneyland for the July 4th weekend. I was really looking forward to it, but now my parents-in-law are going to be visiting and they're going with us, which means reserving another hotel room, buying more tickets, and renting a van to drive down. I'll be very disappointed if this gets screwed up.

Bonus Chase Report

Last week I deposited $500 into my Empire account for their Tuesday $100 bonus. 1,000 hands later, I cleared the bonus and made a little profit on top of that, but it was a little bumpy along the way.

For the first few days, I was playing a mix of NL, PL, and 1/2, and doing all right. I didn't have any big winning days, but enough small winning sessions to be up $58 after about 500 hands. At that point, I started thinking it would be nice if I could hit +$100 in addition to the bonus.

Then variance struck. In one night, I had losing sessions at every table I played. $73 gone, with the biggest hurt coming at a $50 NL table. Two people limped in ahead of me and I raised it to $3 with QQ on the button. The BB called, one folded, and then the last limper pushed all to $35. I took a moment, and it just smelled like he was trying to buy the pot. I figured if he had AA or KK, he might have limp raised, but not so much that he'd force everyone else out. I called, the BB folded, and the limper turned over A2s.

PokerStove shows QQ is favored over A2s by about 2.13 to 1. It was a good call on my part, but unfortunately an Ace fell on the flop and neither of my two outs came on the turn or river. That's poker, but it was hard not to hang my head after that.

Variance started swinging back in my favor, and the next night I managed to break even, which was a relief. Then tonight, with less than 200 hands to go, I scooped a few big pots and managed to win $50 total at the two tables I was playing on.

Final tally, +$33 from playing and +$100 bonus. I'm going to take out $533 and use the $100 bonus for $10+1 SNGs.

$$ Saved == $$ Earned

Sitting at a $50 NL table, I look down UTG and find QQ. I raise to $2, one caller after me, then it's raised to $5, two fold, and the button raises to $8. The blinds fold and it's back to me.

At this point, I'm thinking someone has AA or KK, and I don't feel like putting in another $6 to find out. I fold thinking the caller will fold also. He thinks, then calls the additional $6. Wonder what he's got. Then the guy who raised to $5 ups it to $20 and I'm patting myself on the back for cutting my losses at $2.

The button calls $20, although I'm not sure why he didn't push since he only had a buck and change after that. The caller... calls. The flop is rags and everyone goes all-in.

Nobody gets help on the turn or river and the button wins it with AA. The other raiser had KK (hate when that happens), and the caller had TT. Good lord, what was he thinking?

No Place Like Home

This past Sunday night, actually early Monday morning, my family returned home from the worst vacation I've ever experienced.

We spent 10 days in Hawaii, going to the hospital as many times as we went to the beach -- twice. On the second day of the vacation, my 4-year old woke up with a high fever and sore throat. Two days later, the 4-month old was screaming in pain. It turns out he had an ear infection, which meant our flight from Oahu to the Big Island had to be canceled along with hotel and car reservations. Two days after that, I got what my 4-year old had, which basically felt like the flu. In Hawaii.

Finally, after the 10 days was up, I rebooked our flights home and prayed that nothing would go wrong with the flight. Everything was ok, but we arrived in the middle of a downpour, of course. But I was happy. We made it home, with our luggage, and everyone was feeling better.

So what about poker? I took about two weeks off from that and I think the break was needed. Last night, I logged on to Empire, put in my deposit for their 50% Tuesday bonus, and played about 100 hands of $50 Pot Limit, $50 No Limit, and 1/2 Limit. It was fun again, although not in the same way it was when I first started out.

I'm not sure what happened. I don't feel the same eagerness to get home, get the kids to bed and jump online at Party. It wasn't a conscious decision, or any particular event. Like many things that catch my attention, I was nearly obsessive about poker in the beginning, but that initial obsession has worn off. Poker is still interesting and fun, and I'm certainly not quitting, but I can spend time on other hobbies and interests now.

Will I become obsessed with poker again? Who knows. For now, I'm just going to drift with the currents and see where it takes me. I'm in no rush.

Tired

I've backed off from poker recently. I haven't stopped completely, but I've definitely logged fewer hands lately.

Is it bad beats? A losing streak? Nah, nothing like that. I can't say the cards have been cold; they've been... lukewarm.

What's really happened is that other areas of life have come to the forefront. Work is getting busier with deadlines approaching, and our 4-month old came down with an ear infection. Doing the math:

More Work + Less Sleep = No Energy

And no energy means I don't feel like sitting in front of the computer watching virtual cards being dealt and reading whiny, bitchy chat from wanna-be pros.

Wow. That sounded bitter, but I'm not bitter; I'm just tired.