Nice Poker Day [1,260 Hands]
Today I was playing well and making money. Take a look at the screenshot below from Holdem Manager...
A very nice clip to be moving at, and basically its been 7+ptbb/100 for the last 10k hands or so, and hopefully I keep playing well and avoid coolers to keep going at this pace, because it sure does feel great.
One thing that is also great is that PokerStars finally released their auto-chip-reloader so I don't have to constantly push F9 after every hand to get myself up to 100 buyins every hand. That's been real nice and it's another example of PokerStars continuing efforts to keep their players happy (this was the "one big thing" that FullTilt Poker had that PokerStars did not).
Today saw some pretty crazy players at the tables. I am not sure if there was some drunken spewover from Game 1 of the World Series but I saw some "weekend fish" at the tables and I was happy to see that. Check this maniac out:
This was an example of me paying attention before play began for me in the big blind. I was watching this guy just bet big and really look like he was bluffy and bad and simply winning pots by pure wreckless and nonsensical agression. In the end he was 81/16 over 20 hands.
Anyways I am now up to 16,816 hands this month which is of course a new record but the goal is 20k and there's still an outside shot I can make that. With GoldStar status only 375 vpps away that seems like it's a lock, but we will see.
read moreGot In Some Hands, Nothing Big [734 Hands]
I played a total of 2.2 hours today 6-tabling 50nl FR and got in 734 hands. I hit a few sets but unfortunately that did not mean positive money in my direction as I hit this lovely one:
Set under set loses ... that'll happen, and I played it right and this is just your standard cooler. There really wasn't too many interesting spots tonight ... nothing worth putting in the HA thread that I don't already know. I'm getting ever closer to Gold Star status which is going to be awesome because it'll mean more rakeback (50% more) next month. So far this month I have accumulated well over +$110 so that's a great thing I've got going there.
Other than that not much going on, been real busy with work which is a great feeling, and my wife started her new job and that keeps her really busy too. Tomorrow night I'm playing Rock Band with the cousins and friends, and I'm headed back down to San Diego on Thursday night through the weekend.
Looking at my schedule it's real dicey to hit 20k hands this month. I think between Wednesday and Friday I can get in another 2k hands ... but I really don't know when I will have another block of time to dedicate to poker, which would leave me around 17k hands for the month.
read moreSaturday Night Fever (702 Hands)
So after the baseball game tonight (Wow Red Sox force a game 7) the family went to bed and I had my handy MacBook Pro here ready to play some poker. I had used the demo before but today I 'took the plunge' and found a good coupon online and bought Parallels, which allows you to put PC software on your Mac and essentially run Windows XP (or Vista) as if it were running in a window like any other program. I also installed HEM (2nd license allowed) and imported this month's hand histories and then loaded her up and BAM I was playing 4 tables of 50nl.
I feel that I lost the right to play more than 4 tables yesterday after going on tilt and playing when tired and freaking out. That's just bad on my part but I could already feel about an hour after leaving the computer that my tilt was wearing off. I think recognizing the triggers and thinking about the big picture, and also "releasing the tension" by ranting a bit and then getting some tough love from friends at Cardschat really get me over the hump and back to playing my "A GAME" which is a damn good game at this point in my poker career.
I can't remember playing on a Saturday night EVER but I am sure it has happened before. Anyways the competition was laughable and at some tables I just knew I had to sit back and wait for a big hand while others I could run over with aggression. The HUD stats just help so much on weird nights where you aren't playing a table full of 10/7/2 nits like I usually do during the week at the late night hours.
Anyways got in 702 hands, ran very well (~20ptbb/100) (also PTBB/100 means Big Bets/100) for +3 buyins and am feeling good and confident.
Here's a fun hand ... hit a set and had a gross river card fill a flush and a possible straight and saw my opponent just SHOVE on me. He wasn't particularly good and seemed the bluffy type, and I also figured there was no way this player would take me to valuetown like this at the river. Not an easy call, I went with my gut, and it paid off.
read more2,100 Hands. Battling major tilt right now.
Today was a very horrible day poker wise. You might think, "Wow he lost like 8 buyins!" but no that didn't happen. In fact I ended the day -18. Not bad at all and when you think about it very small in the grand scheme of things. But I was up to +110 before it all came crashing down. And one thing I can say by playing all these hands I know 100% what causes me to tilt ... and I think that's the first battle in me fighting it.
I know I'm tilting and smart enough to know I can't play logical poker right now. The tilt *is* affecting my play so I know its time for yet another break ... so this does put my 20k hand goal in jeopardy but better that then tilting off my entire month of very modest profit.
Here's the kind of stuff that gets my blood boiling:
- Hitting Sets or Straights at the flop in multiway pots and having everyone fold it to you. Today I had 6 sets in 1 session only to see 5 of them gain about +$9 collectively. Very frustrating.
- Getting my money in good against a shortstacker, and seeing it blow up in my face. AA < JJ.
- Hitting a set at the flop, stacking off, and seeing your idiot opponent hit a damn ROYAL FLUSH at the river. Good to know I can be on the wrong end of a 1 in 650k opportunity.
Anyways ... obviously this is a rant post and I do apologize for it. I stopped when I dipped below breakeven and recognized I am not playing right and thinking right. That's the first step in tilt control. The next is to just bounce back for next time.
Positives:
1) I went 2/2 in the 210fpps so the irony in all this is that the $22-$18 = +$4 on the day.
2) I am 1k VPPs now away from GOLD STAR status which is cool and will mean more rakeback.
3) I didn't set fire to my local El Pollo Loco when tilting.
read moreWhat I’ve Learned This Month (So Far!)
September was a really trying month for me personally. The last week of September saw true pain and suffering to the people I love in my life and really put into perspective how trivial win/losses of online poker really are. I think that's been my biggest tilt control lesson to date - and also a gut check in terms of time management and priority levels for life even if (*just* for the sake of example) I were to suddenly be given Johnny Chan's abilities and play 600nl and win it for 154bb/100 and do this for a living.
October brought new hope and new perspective in life, work, and my main hobby (poker!). A month of optimism and hope began. I was able to play about 11,000 hands this month in (I think) 10 days. The first ~7,000 hands honestly were a mix of the following:
- Me learning the ropes at 50nl and proper bet sizes
- Me learning what bets mean in certain spots at 50nl (especially preflop)
- Sick sick beats (confirmed after post-game inspection)
- More sick beats
Stats during this stretch (from Oct 1 to Oct 7th):
- Dates: 10/1/08 to 10/7/08
- Hands: 6,980
- Profit: -$46.35
- Win Rate: -0.66bb/100
The second part of this run, which really encompasses the last 33% of the hands saw me really start to assert myself at 50nl Fullring. Some of the sick beats were gone but I also saw some of the weirdest hands that reduced what should have been an ever better win-rate (2 times losing with a Boat to Quads for example). Here are the stats for the last ~4,500 hands from this month:
- Dates: 10/8/08 to Present Day
- Hands: 4,419
- Profit: +$320.00
- Win Rate: 7.24bb/100
Quite a difference wouldn't you say? Again I haven't played any poker since the morning of the 11th (4 days ago) so who knows what this means as a whole. I am not planning too deep a reflection at this point - that's really to come at the 20k hand mark, so I really should cut this short here.
Anyways, that's the update and here's the obligatory graph so far this month...
About Me
My name is Sean Gibson and I am a poker journalist and part time poker player. I work full time at PokerNewsDaily.com where I host a daily news show called "The Daily Deal" and also handle the bulk of the live player interviews. In terms of poker you will find me playing $1/$3 No Limit Hold'em in Vegas or in Los Angeles (or San Diego) and online playing small stakes games.
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