tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85005802011-08-20T15:34:59.827-07:00Just as the ugly duckling grew into a beautiful swan, the ugly guppy dreams of one day becoming a ferocious shark... and eating all the other guppies. Ok, so maybe there's a better chance of Phil Hellmuth losing graciously, but hey, can't a little fish have a dream?Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.comBlogger711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1126898677488020582005-09-16T12:09:00.000-07:002005-09-16T12:24:37.526-07:00

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

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1121370402595928962005-07-14T11:33:00.000-07:002005-07-14T12:46:42.623-07:00

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:

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1117655697623273672005-06-01T12:38:00.000-07:002005-06-01T12:56:21.360-07:00

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

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1116394210592830422005-05-17T22:06:00.000-07:002005-05-17T22:30:10.600-07:00

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

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1116005510593740262005-05-13T10:18:00.000-07:002005-05-13T10:31:50.600-07:00

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

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1115760462361288072005-05-10T13:52:00.000-07:002005-05-10T14:27:42.436-07:00

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

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1114149263441752252005-04-21T22:40:00.000-07:002005-04-21T22:54:23.443-07:00

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

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1113238718767568082005-04-11T09:48:00.000-07:002005-04-11T10:37:20.280-07:00

Just a couple of things worth mentioning since my last post.First, I cashed out at Intertops, which is yet another Party skin. I only played there a couple of weeks to clear a signup bonus, and it will be a while before I play there again, if ever. Their payout process wasn't a good experience. At every other site I've played at, payout requests hit my Neteller account in less than a day. Usually

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1112554686307487292005-04-03T21:40:00.000-07:002005-04-03T21:39:07.746-07:00

The big news for me: last night my bankroll passed the $1,000 mark.Everything that was going wrong for me a few weeks ago turned around. The $1/2 tables have been very good to me and I've been making the money in the $10+1 SNGs. I crossed the $1,000 mark when my boat beat out two smaller boats, and then I cleared a signup bonus to clinch it, getting me past the $1,100 mark.I feel good with

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1112057492403014962005-03-28T16:31:00.000-08:002005-03-28T23:27:45.316-08:00

This past Saturday I took the plunge and moved up to the $1/2 tables. I was planning to wait until my bankroll was at 500BB before going up in limits, and although I'm not quite there, I'm over the 300BB threshold, so I felt pretty safe about the move.So what pushed me to jump early? I guess a mix of greed and impatience. I'm trying to clear a bonus and the rate at which I was accumulating

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1111518958474026952005-03-22T10:53:00.000-08:002005-03-22T11:15:58.476-08:00

The past couple of weeks have been full of brutal beats for me, both in SNGs and ring games.Flop a straight? Lose to a boat on the river.Flop a boat? Lose to a bigger boat on the river.Flop a set? Lose to a runner-runner flush.Then there are the times when the river just decides to mess with my head. It gives me top two pair... and someone else the nut straight.I'm at a loss for anything

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1111099260312236722005-03-17T14:19:00.000-08:002005-03-17T14:41:00.316-08:00

Sometimes you can get great cards, play them just right, and still lose it all. Last night, I was sitting at a $10+1 SNG. The table was fairly conservative, and at Level 4, with the blinds at 50/100, we still had 9 players. Nobody had a commanding chip lead, and I was in decent shape with about T1300.I'm in MP and get dealt AA. I'm getting all tingly because there were a couple of short

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1110786292233004452005-03-13T23:25:00.000-08:002005-03-13T23:44:52.236-08:00

Well, after another 10 tries at $10+1, my ROI has fallen off dramatically. I'm still finishing ITM at a decent clip, but sadly, I haven't been able to finish higher than 3rd. Stats after 20 $10+1 SNGs:ITM: 55%ROI: 45%NET: +$1001st place finishes: 32nd place finishes: 13rd place finishes: 7I did catch a few bad beats, and the cards were running cold, but that's going to happen. What I

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1110491264705381732005-03-10T13:46:00.000-08:002005-03-10T13:57:53.106-08:00

Fo all you beotches who wanna find shiznit

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1110103305268592442005-03-06T01:25:00.000-08:002005-03-07T14:29:54.410-08:00

I only play 1 SNG per night, so it's taken about two weeks after starting to play the $10+1s to get 10 of them under my belt.Results after 10 SNGs:ITM 60% (1st, 1st, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd)ROI 100% (net +$110)I expect these numbers to fall a bit as I continue to play, but hopefully not too much. The crazy start I got off to really jacked them up, but things have cooled off since then.I have come to

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1109871426195434822005-03-03T09:32:00.000-08:002005-03-03T09:37:06.196-08:00

Last night was one of those "not so good" poker nights. Bubbled out of a $10+1 SNG when AQs lost to 22. Then played some .5/1 limit to get in 50 raked hands towards my reload bonus at party. It was one of those nights where you get decent hole cards (AQo, KQo, 66, etc.) and then completely miss the flop or get just enough of it to keep you in with a second best hand.Even though it sucked from

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1109794073052879742005-03-02T17:23:00.000-08:002005-03-02T17:23:30.146-08:00

Although nothing to brag about (I am a .5/1 player after all), my bankroll is up almost 60% from the start of the year and I was feeling pretty good about that. I put down some rough numbers to figure out where the money had come from and it turns out most of it was from bonuses. So my bankroll is growing, but it's due more to my bonus clearing skills than any poker playing skills I might have.

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1109287890850179032005-02-25T16:58:00.000-08:002005-02-25T16:58:41.623-08:00

This past Monday I started playing the $10+1 SNGs and they aren't much tougher than the $5+1 SNGs. People seem to be a little less reckless in the early rounds, but that's about the only difference I've noticed.So far, I've done much better than expected. On Monday I busted out 5th, but I was satisfied with my play. Then I went on a tear, taking 1st Tuesday, Wednesday, and last night.I wish I

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1109015304185666422005-02-21T11:28:00.000-08:002005-02-21T11:48:24.186-08:00

It's been a while since my last post, simply because I've had nothing to write about.Life in general is uneventful but busy. With work starting to ramp up and helping out with the baby, poker play has been relegated to an hour or so at night.Currently I'm working off a sign-up bonus at MultiPoker, another Party skin. I think one of the problems I've had in the past working off bonuses is that I

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1107933596729982062005-02-09T21:44:00.000-08:002005-02-09T21:43:11.890-08:00

Last night I was playing at the $25 NL tables when the following hand came up. Sitting in MP, I'm dealt K♦K♥. UTG+1 limps and the next player raises to $2. I haven't been sitting at the table long enough to know what type of player the raiser is, and my experience at the $25 NL game is limited, but I believed I was ahead here. I wanted to get heads up with the raiser so I re-raised to $5.

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1107374065934767642005-02-02T11:34:00.000-08:002005-02-02T11:54:25.933-08:00

I started playing a new account at Empire this past weekend and things started out well. Poker Tracker had me rated as Tight-Aggressive/Aggressive using the default rules and I was up 38BB. By the end of the weekend I was feeling cautiously optimistic . Two losing nights later and I'm back down to break-even. Ugh. Not much more to say about that. At least I can be thankful that I didn't end

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1107223316822738992005-01-31T17:47:00.000-08:002005-01-31T18:01:56.823-08:00

It's amazing how fast the first month of 2005 has gone by, and not quite as amazing that I haven't kept up my one and only New Year's Resolution: to get back into the gym regularly. I recall reading that you should write your goals down, and even better, make them public. So here are my goals for the next three months:Finish a 13-week exercise cycleHave success at .50/1 and move up to 1/2The

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1106861817818551322005-01-27T13:09:00.000-08:002005-01-27T13:36:57.816-08:00

I'm in the BB with 6♣9♣ and get to see the flop for free when 5 others limp ahead of me. The flop comes 696 and I decide to bet out and hope I get a few calling on a draw. Instead I get caught in a raising war between two players who capped the flop and turn taking me along for the ride. On the river one of them wanted to slow it down, but the other kept betting so I helped cap it. What did

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1106686625473065372005-01-25T17:53:00.000-08:002005-01-25T17:53:47.576-08:00

So I have my 4-week old son cradled in my left arm like a football; I'm using my chin to keep his bottle from falling out of his mouth and my right hand is on the mouse ready to push all-in. How in the world did I end up in this crazy position? Back up half an hour. It's about 9:30 PM and my wife is going to take a nap. Matthew, my 4-week old, is sleeping and usually wakes up around 11 PM to eat

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1106604210700011842005-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:002005-01-24T14:08:31.483-08:00

Not much to write about lately. I feel like I'm playing ok, but every time I get the bankroll moving in the right direction, I run into a losing streak and it rolls right back down. Is it variance, or do I just suck? I know my game needs work, but I just can't spot any huge flaws. My plan? Keep reading, keep studying, look in the mirror (poker tracker), and don't lose faith.

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1105992183210715762005-01-17T20:17:00.000-08:002005-01-17T20:16:32.123-08:00

There's not much for me to write regarding play on the turn. If I was protecting my hand on the flop, I'll continue to do so. If I was drawing, I'll continue if the odds are in my favor. I could also change my stance from passive to aggressive or vice versa depending on the turn card and betting. If someone wakes up on the turn, I'm going to be very cautious. Unless he's shown a tendency to

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1105724358606357592005-01-14T09:29:00.000-08:002005-01-14T09:39:18.606-08:00

The other night I was playing a loose table at Party with an average of six people seeing the flop. In one string of about five hands, the winning hand was at least trips and I saw a couple of vicious beats (not to me, I wasn't playing with the crap hands I was dealt). Weak players start bitching and moaning about how online poker is rigged whenever they get rivered by some knucklehead's 2-

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1105039874981691662005-01-12T21:23:00.000-08:002005-01-17T20:24:55.266-08:00

I've been trying to write this post for the last week and I keep getting bogged down in details. Entire chapters in books are devoted to playing on the flop, so in this post all I will try to do is cover my general thoughts on playing the flop, hoping that it will help me better understand my play and discover ways to improve. After the flop is dealt, I first consider how strong my hand is as a

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1105065006571235412005-01-06T18:03:00.000-08:002005-01-06T18:30:06.570-08:00

While writing my post on preflop play, I came across an interesting statistic: With two suited cards, the chance of making a flush by the river is 6.4%. That got me thinking about how I grouped my starting hands. If KQs only results in a flush 6.4% of the time, why value it any more than KQo? So I threw out suitedness as a consideration and put KQ (both suited and offsuit) into my "Strong"

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1104774183018448322005-01-05T21:36:00.000-08:002005-01-05T18:36:53.286-08:00

I'm still languishing at Party, but instead of going dark or just complaining, I'll write something about my play. This will organize my thoughts, and hopefully lead to new insights or help me spot the leaks in my game. I'll start off with preflop play. First, a note about the tables I play at. I'm currently playing the .50/1 limit tables at Party Poker. The tables are usually typical to

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1104392452651972632004-12-29T23:10:00.000-08:002004-12-29T23:40:52.650-08:00

Every poker player has been where I am now, and if they keep playing, will be here again. It feels like ages between cards I can play and then I can't catch a piece of the flop. On those rare occassions when I do flop a decent hand I run into a better one. Two pair, sets, straights -- I can't seem to win with any of them. Flushes and boats are winners for me, but I've only seen one of each.

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1104354288416360542004-12-29T20:53:00.000-08:002004-12-29T20:53:44.486-08:00

The cards haven't been falling in my favor since I started playing at Party Poker. This has been my gut feeling since I started, and last night a quick check of the starting hands dealt to me in Poker Tracker confirmed it. The poor starting hands are certainly one reason for the downturn in my bankroll, but not the only one. There have been a few hands that, in hindsight, I overplayed on the

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1104214846760651732004-12-27T22:17:00.000-08:002004-12-28T15:19:19.143-08:00

Before Matthew made his entrance, I had some time to try and work off the deposit bonus at Party. Thankfully, I managed to get the bankroll to come around and almost made it back to break-even by the time I hit my 500th raked hand. $100 bonus. Cool. Bankroll: $298.38

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1104214647657732202004-12-27T22:12:00.000-08:002004-12-27T22:17:27.656-08:00

Our second child, Matthew, was born yesterday morning at 6:17 AM. Mother and baby are doing great, and they both came home today. Noah is thrilled to be a big brother and thinks baby Matthew is cute. I wonder how long that will last.

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103972266352389562004-12-25T02:23:00.000-08:002004-12-25T02:58:09.446-08:00

And a belated Festivus! It appears I have caught a cold [deck] after joining the Party. I'm down $40, but on the bright side, I'm over half way to my $100 bonus -- 251 raked hands out of 500 needed. If I continue at this rate, I'll be down $80, get the $100 bonus and be about $2 in the black after taking out the $17.80 Neteller processing fee. The irony has not gone unnoticed. I did not

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103914961500040932004-12-24T10:57:00.000-08:002004-12-24T11:28:57.680-08:00

Funny, I always thought "discombobulate" was a made-up word, like "strategery". Shows you how much I know. Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster Online both say it's a real word, and as we all know, if you see it on the Internets, it's true. This all came up because I thought "discombulated" closely described how I felt playing on Party last night. "Disoriented" is a better fit, but "

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103875826045257852004-12-24T01:00:00.000-08:002004-12-24T00:10:26.046-08:00

It's not what I expected. The UI is a step down from PokerRoom. Make that 2 steps down. There are definitely an abundence of games going, without question more .50/1 games than at PokerRoom. These two things I knew already. I expected to see looser play though. I sat at 4 tables and the first 3 seemed pretty tight to me -- it seemed like an average of 3 or 4 seeing the flop. The fourth was

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103829507071864252004-12-23T11:11:00.000-08:002004-12-23T14:01:32.953-08:00

Bonus Whore: One who deposits money and plays at a poker site with the express intention of clearing a promotional bonus. Or, as they say in Long Island: Bonus Hoo-uh. I just finished writing up this post as a draft when I noticed a message from Party Poker sitting in my inbox. My original post went something like this: Last night marked three months of playing online. It seemed fitting that on

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103787724096373982004-12-22T22:55:00.000-08:002004-12-22T23:42:04.096-08:00

After last night's disappointment, I was eager to get back to the poker tables and prove to myself that I could play a better game. Lesson learned, it would seem. I am happy to say that tonight I was patient and thoughtful. I controlled my aggression and played a more solid game. Starting cards were cold to begin with, but I stayed disciplined and waited it out. Finally, good hands started

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103709770685343682004-12-22T02:02:00.000-08:002004-12-22T02:30:09.266-08:00

Well. So what is the point of self-analysis if all rational thought flies out the window as soon as someone raises my overpair on a raggedy-ass flop? QQ and I raise pre-flop. It's re-raised behind me and I cap it. Flop is T64 rainbow and I bet. The pre-flop re-raiser only calls, but a pre-flop limper raises. Ok, here's where I should have put on the brakes. You know, make an attempt to use

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103675696312947392004-12-21T15:18:00.000-08:002004-12-22T02:28:52.653-08:00

A couple of days ago I started reading Iggy's blog from the very beginning. Man, not an easy task -- that guy is a prolific blogger. I'm only up to January of this year(!), but here's what I've gleaned so far: Iggy dislikes Rush Limbaugh, Vegans, and Phil Hellmuth, not necessarily in that order. He likes cooking, eating, Guinness, and poker, not necessarily in that order.He's a serious student

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103358775278280442004-12-17T23:59:00.000-08:002004-12-18T00:32:55.280-08:00

All in all, tonight was a nice evening. My wife and mother-in-law were out to visit friends, so it was just me and my 4 year old son, Noah. After dinner, we sat down and watched Star Wars, Episode IV and drank some hot chocolate. Ah man, watching Star Wars with my little boy; I couldn't ask for much more. Anyway, after the movie, I read him his bedtime story, got him tucked in, and settled down

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103327129457731402004-12-17T15:19:00.000-08:002004-12-17T16:11:39.960-08:00

There hasn't been much to write about regarding my online play. This past weekend was rough and I dropped about $13 overall. Starting hands weren't too bad, but the flop kept missing me. I was beginning to wonder whether I was in for another 4 week skid, but Monday things turned around and I posted a $14.50 winning session. Things have been ok since then, and I'm up to about $186. I wonder

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103153617342381502004-12-15T18:42:00.000-08:002004-12-16T16:57:15.500-08:00

Lately I've been wondering when it is correct to go all-in with only a draw. There were two hands played at a weekly home game I go to that got me thinking about this. Hand 1 I'm dealt A♦Q♦ and put in a 4xBB bet. Two people call, one that I consider loose-aggressive and the other loose-passive. The flop has two diamonds and I go all-in. I had hoped to win the pot right there, but wouldn't have

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1103057414604512402004-12-14T13:26:00.000-08:002004-12-14T13:04:51.220-08:00

It was pretty nice to get a comment from the Blogfather himself. I'm not fooling myself into thinking that he'll be reading my blog, but in the off chance you do drop by again: Thanks for the kind words! Seeing his comment reminded me of the one other time someone notable has contacted me. For those who haven't heard of Donald Knuth, you can think of him as the Doyle Brunson of computer science

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1102555423226178192004-12-08T16:52:00.000-08:002004-12-09T15:26:34.166-08:00

Last night I played my second SNG, another $5+1. It was another table with no maniacs, although there was one guy who went all-in a couple times early. Nobody called and he ended up winning very little. Besides those all-ins, he was fairly passive. I don't remember him raising pre-flop -- just limping or calling. I finished ITM again in 3rd place. Although I'm happy I finished ITM, I made a

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1102442572844987522004-12-07T10:02:00.000-08:002004-12-07T11:00:53.596-08:00

Ok, he didn't flat out lie to my face. He just decided to conveniently leave something out when he told me about poker. Mike told me that poker is a game of skill, but that's not the whole story. Poker is gambling. Poker is a game of skill and luck. On any given hand, the WSOP Champion could lose to the biggest fish in the world. 72 offsuit can crack AA. It is unlikely. It is improbable. It

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1102290738196089652004-12-05T15:13:00.000-08:002004-12-06T14:26:53.370-08:00

I got a good hard look at the ugly side of variance during my month-long slide in October. Going from $101 to $27 over the course of 4 weeks was no fun, especially since I was just starting out. Towards the end of that month, I began wondering whether I was just a crappy poker player. Fortunately, the storm clouds cleared and things started falling my way again. As I mentioned before, playing

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1101968340730322822004-12-01T21:58:00.000-08:002004-12-02T16:12:50.926-08:00

Last night I jumped into my first NL sit n' go. I'd like to play the multi-table tournaments, but I just don't have the time. Sit n' Go's are a single table of 10 players, so they take an hour or less. The game started out very slowly, with most people playing pretty tight and just limping in when they entered the pot. Things never really got crazy like I've seen at other Sit n' Go's I've

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1101369782009212042004-11-24T23:39:00.000-08:002004-11-25T00:03:02.010-08:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post. Lots has happened outside of poker. Since moving from NYC 2 years ago, I've been working out of my home. The product I developed for my company has done well enough that I needed help, so last week I moved into a rented office and hired someone to work with me. It's nice to have somewhere to go in the mornings and even better,

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1099679083385377552004-11-05T09:41:00.000-08:002004-11-05T10:24:43.386-08:00

Ok, I don't really believe PokerRoom.com is rigged, but last night I saw someone win 8 pots in 11 hands and I just have to wonder. When I joined the table, I watched about 4 hands before I sat in. A player named vt kid was under $10 when I first joined the table. In the 4 hands before I sat in, he won three big pots with two boats and a straight. He was up to about $28 when I posted the big blind

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1099588344430720352004-11-04T08:33:00.000-08:002004-11-04T10:28:18.110-08:00

George W. Bush won a second term. I admit to being a little surprised by that. All the polls showed it would be a close race, but I thought Kerry had a few things going for him that would turn it his way: Undecideds have historically broken for the challenger 2 to 1.Incumbent Presidents with approval ratings at or below 50% have a tough time getting re-elected.Young voters tend to be more

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1099424049759325162004-11-02T11:06:00.000-08:002004-11-02T11:34:09.760-08:00

I took some time this morning to review my ballot and go out and vote. I didn't realize there were so many propositions to vote on, but I did my best to review each one, focusing mainly on the pro/con arguments and rebuttals. My voting experience was extremely easy, with only a couple of people in line ahead of me. I went in, tapped all my choices on the touch screen, and got out in about 5

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1099353059034237272004-11-01T15:04:00.000-08:002004-11-01T15:50:59.033-08:00

I haven't posted recently because there really hasn't been anything to post about. My luck is not quite as bad as it was, but it still isn't good. I seem to win one day, then lose the next two leaving me net minus. Most of the losing sessions are just cold cards, or the flop missing me entirely, but once last week I slipped and went on tilt. When I go on tilt, I don't yell or curse or throw

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1097887002329110092004-10-21T22:12:00.000-07:002004-10-21T23:55:11.463-07:00

Whew, if anyone ever had beginner's luck, it's me. After taking my starting $50 to $101 in about two weeks, I am now down to $42 a month after starting to play online. Ugh. Tonight my starting hands were ok, but things just didn't go my way. A few examples: Pocket Queens: At the .25/.50 limit table, I raise preflop. The flop is all rags and I have an overpair. I bet. It's called by two people.

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1097814517469224982004-10-14T20:57:00.000-07:002004-10-14T21:28:37.470-07:00

Tonight's session of .25/.50 limit hold 'em felt like my best so far. I wasn't getting great cards, and I didn't win much, but I felt like I finally found a good zone. I stayed disciplined, played tight, and when I did get a good hand, I was aggressive. I bet out whenever I felt I had the stronger hand, and folded on the turn when I felt it was lost. I only saw three showdowns, but I won them

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1097693879619508322004-10-13T11:55:00.000-07:002004-10-13T13:58:53.660-07:00

The past couple of days have been relatively uneventful as far as poker play goes. I've had big swings in my bankroll, up $26 on Sunday, break even Monday, then down $20 yesterday. Yup, I broke my rule and went back in after I'd lost my first $15. I think the big run I had on Sunday had me playing too aggressively. I took a couple of second-best hands too far and paid for it. In less than 40

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1097450296996405902004-10-10T15:56:00.000-07:002004-10-10T22:15:59.610-07:00

Poker can be such an emotional roller coaster. I didn't play online last night, and I was thinking I should give it a rest and watch football today, but I just couldn't stay away. I'm tired and a little hung over so I'll just record my session stats. Played 102 hands. Saw the flop 26 times. Went to the river 12 times and won 7 out of 11 showdowns. Won 10 pots and split 1. I was getting very

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1097301827114136572004-10-08T22:35:00.000-07:002004-10-08T23:37:30.033-07:00

I am the fat man. I couldn't leave bad enough alone and went back for more. This time the cards weren't so cold, but the beats just finished me off. One guy caught an out he had only a 15% chance of catching to beat me on the river. This, after I had bet into him the entire hand. That was bad, but this next one, though not really a bad beat, was the winner tonight, hands-down. I'm on the button

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1097291175991059912004-10-08T19:50:00.000-07:002004-10-08T20:09:33.673-07:00

Or is it just me? Wow. I'm just not sure what to think. In two hours tonight, I saw 103 starting hands. I saw exactly one pocket pair (9's) and AK and AJ once each. Those were the best of the night. My statistics showed I had sixteen hands that I thought were good enough to see the flop, but eight of those were from the big blind when nobody raised in front of me. Of those sixteen, only two were

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1097264915241150232004-10-08T13:28:00.000-07:002004-10-08T13:34:54.540-07:00

I decided to play 100 hands last night, which meant about 2 hours of play since I don't multi-table. After 96 hands, I was closing in on the big blind and decided to play up to the blinds, which would be hand 99. I was down $4 and resigned to having another losing session, when a lucky break came my way. I was dealt KhQd, and there was no raising pre-flop. The flop came down JcTs9h. I had

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1097177401329434662004-10-07T11:49:00.000-07:002004-10-07T12:40:41.853-07:00

The last couple of nights have been sobering. The cards have been very cold, and my session statistics show I've folded between 80% and 85% before the flop. Considering you usually get to play the BB for free in these games, that's pretty cold. I caught myself chasing on Tuesday night, which I believe to be a byproduct of not getting many good starting hands. I remember with JJ (twice) and QQ, I

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096960329183441722004-10-04T23:06:00.000-07:002004-10-05T09:22:05.193-07:00

I am such a goddam fish. I ended down $15 tonight, along with the $4 I lost yesterday. I can handle the bad beats, missed flops and close calls. What really has me kicking myself is an awful mistake I made early in the evening. I started off with pocket jacks in early position. Friggin' Fishhooks. They would be the best hole cards I would see all night. I raised before the flop and got five

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096697692644964812004-10-01T22:53:00.000-07:002004-10-01T23:14:52.643-07:00

In one of my first posts, I mentioned a plan I have to keep me from getting into too much trouble with online poker. It's fairly simple, and has only two points. To play at a given limit, my bankroll must be at least 100 big bets. So, to play at the .50/1 limit table, my bankroll has to be $100. If it falls below that, I'm moving back down to the .25/.50 table. Before I move up a rung on the

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096696089174378532004-10-01T22:37:00.000-07:002004-10-01T22:48:09.173-07:00

Tonight was a good night of poker for me. I caught some decent starting hands and the rivers starting coming my way. I was able to take a $12 pot with 9's full of 6's, catching the third 9 on the river. I think that big win boosted my table image because soon after that, I won a smaller pot with nothing but king-high. I was in the big blind and bet into my opponents on the turn and the river.

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096649452712741802004-10-01T08:45:00.000-07:002004-10-01T23:35:29.490-07:00

After a slow hour at the limit tables, I had jumped into a .25/.50 no limit game with $12. Half an hour later and it was down to this: sitting on the big blind with 4h - 3s and $6 left. Five players called before me and I checked. At least I'd get to play those crappy cards for free. The flop came down: Ad - 2c - 5d. I had to look between my cards and the board twice before I could accept that

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096526594683767872004-09-29T23:01:00.000-07:002004-10-01T23:30:25.070-07:00

Well, I just didn't bring the mojo tonight and the Fat Buddha was no help. I didn't get many good starting hands, and the flop kept missing me. The few times I did take it to the river, I lost the showdown. Ouch. I just realized I didn't win a single pot all night. I managed to tie for one when a full house came on the board, rendering my ATs meaningless. The last hand I played tonight was a

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096512870090164022004-09-29T19:02:00.000-07:002004-09-29T19:54:30.090-07:00

Hotei, also called the Fat Buddha or Laughing Buddha, is one of the seven Japanese Shinto gods of luck. He is easily recognizable as an obese bald man, always smiling or laughing and carrying all his possesions in a large cloth sack. What does this have to do with poker? Well, a couple of weekends ago, my wife and I were strolling through a local mall and I happened to see a small figurine of

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096441730076315432004-09-28T23:23:00.000-07:002004-09-29T00:11:03.873-07:00

Last night the dry spell I've been waiting for finally arrived. All night I was dealt junk, and the few times I caught a good starting hand, it didn't hold up. The first hand of the night should have tipped me off. I posted the big blind and what do you know, pocket queens. Nice. I raised and the flop was Jxx rainbow. Not a great flop for me, but I figured I had top pair, and it didn't look like

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096431606619208042004-09-28T20:34:00.000-07:002004-09-29T19:55:22.726-07:00

Last week my friend Raul sent me an invitation to play at PokerRoom.com. That night, I managed to slip in the idea of playing poker online during dinner conversation, mentioning to my wife that I was thinking of putting in $50 and playing at the "quarter tables". She listened with what can only be described as a great poker face, and finally just said, "Ok". But it was the way she said it and

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500580.post-1096332237377791522004-09-27T16:34:00.000-07:002004-09-28T21:34:56.363-07:00

One day this past summer, I was flipping through channels and came across a rebroadcast of the 2003 World Series of Poker on ESPN. I'm in my 30's and poker had never interested me before, but I couldn't stop watching as the players peeked at their cards, bluffed and called, and won and lost on the last card drawn. I was fascinated, but at the time I was incredibly busy with work, trying to

Jeffrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10116301834503307798noreply@blogger.com4