suspended [18 Aug 2003|07:26pm] Updates will be suspended until i get internet access at my new apartment. Unfortunately, this means that my playing will be suspended until i get internet access at my new apartment, unless i can work up the stones to go play poker in the real world. Either way, I'll I hope to be back to updating shortly. post comment

The first week [09 Aug 2003|02:15am] I'm pleased to announce that at the end of week one, I've met my goal. Actually, I had met my weekly goal by the end of my first three days, which turned out to be a blessing. The end of this week was really busy with me splitting my time between registering for school and trying to find an apartment. I've fallen into this pattern where I start playing and immediately end up down by quite a bit. Then I have to spend time trying to grind myself out of the hole I'm in. Reviewing my play, I'm not playing badly when I first sit, it just seems thats when I get beat. 8/6/03 I played for about 2 hours, ended up +$7.50 after being down. Not much to say here, went down early, but not by much. Went up, and then just pissed away most of my winnings. 8/8/03 Knowing this was my last day to play for the week I really wanted to go out with a bang. I sat down around 8pm and went down almost $70 right away. This is exactly what I'm talking about. I wasn't playing badly, but I had hole aces broken, lost a set to a higher set on 5th street, and lost a full house to a better full house on 5th street. The table was loose, with people just staying with hands way to long. I know that over the long run playing like that will lose money, but its frustrating losing money to these people. After an hour I had to break and walk away. I came back to the tables around 11. It was late, I was tired, and I noticed that I made some mistakes. Checking when I should have bet, and calling when I should have raised. Being down so much made me gunshy and I was playing a little weak. Despite my bad playing I managed to get back the $70 and ended up about $20 after 3 and a half hours. So it wasn't the bang I hoped for, but I did manage to make it a winning day. That always feels good. So at the end of week one I've played 14 and a half hours and I've won $241. That comes out to about $16.50/hr. Its better then I would do at a part time job. Lets hope I can keep it up. post comment

now ive seen everything [06 Aug 2003|06:09pm] You play this game long enough and you'll see everything. I'm dealt a 7 8 suited in mid position. I raise trying to get some money in the pot and three other people stay in with me. I'm third to act. The flop is kd kh ks. Two checks to me, and I figure ill bluff the fourth king. I bet. I get called by two people, fourth person folds. kc falls on fourth street. Its checked to me and I know its all down to the kicker. Mine sucks, but I figure ill bet and see what happens. The guy behind me raises and the guy in front of me folds. I know the guy who raised has an ace, but i cant fold this hand. I call. Guess what falls on the river. Yeah, Ace clubs. I cant believe it, I check knowing that all we are going to do is split the pot. He checks and yeah, he was holding an ace kicker. I'm sure he was kicking himself when he saw my high card. post comment

Days 1-3 [04 Aug 2003|08:31pm] My first mistake is not reviewing my play for the first three days. I didn't realize that the pacific poker software only holds the 125 most recent hands played, so I can't go back and review what how I've been playing. I'll need to start taking notes while I play. Pacific poker only lets you play one table at a time, so I'm thinking of starting an account over at paradise poker. I'm only comfortable playing low limit limit, but I'd like to be able to play two tables. 8/2/03 I started playing around 8:30pm and I won a few pots right away. I played until about 1am pretty much just protecting what I had already won. All told, I was up about $60 for the night. First day is a success. I know that I shouldn't judge my play after one day, but its nice not to be down. 8/3/03 I started early, around 10:30am and played till about 1:30pm. I was getting some really good cards, and I was playing them well. After about three hours I was up $55 and decided to break for breakfast. I went back to playing around 6pm. This session was brutal. I started out with some good cards, but hand after hand I kept coming up second best. After I lost 4 or 5 hands on the showdown, I kind of went on tilt and within an hour I was down almost $100. I was playing way too many hands, and I couldn't throw away a hand even when I knew it was a loser. Fortunately, I realized that I was on tilt and I walked away for about half an hour. I was much calmer when I came back to the tables and for the next two hours it was a slow grind back to even. When I logged off for the night at around 10pm, I was only down about a dollar. Considering how badly this session started I'm really happy with where it ended. 8/4/03 Today started off slowly and then the cards just started falling my way. The first hand I played was a semi-bluff straight draw that I missed, but took to a showdown anyway trying to bluff it. I lost the showdown, but this set me up for the next hour. I got some great cards, and everyone at the table was calling my bets and raises. I think I got the reputation as a bluffer, and I was able to get a lot of bets that way. While not a viable strategy for the future, I'm sure I got some bets that I wouldn't have otherwise have gotten. Luckily, I kept getting the cards to play the table straight up. It would have been a much different outcome if the cards had been cold. At the end of day three I'm up about $80 for the day and $210 for the three days. post comment

Welcome to my experiment [01 Aug 2003|07:26pm] Can I make a living playing poker? I recently quit my job to go back to school full time and my plan had been to live off my saving for the first semester. Upon reflection, that would have left me on a pretty tight budget, so I figured that I would get a part time job, and if I could bring home around two hundred dollars a week that would stretch my savings well into next summer when I could work full time. Really though, who wants to work for a living? Since I'm already prepaired to live off of my savings, I want to see if I can make at least two hundred a week playing poker. So this is the experiment, and it will be on full display for all to watch. My goal is to make $50 a day which should give me a lot of time to concentrate on school. Back in may, I had played poker (texas hold'em) online for a few months, and there is still around $270 in that account. I figure this will make a good bankroll to start out. My plan is to play both online, and in cardrooms and casinos. post comment

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