Back in the saddle

Well, the last couple of sessions have been pretty good. I won a little over 2 buy ins in each, and am feeling better. I had developed a MUBS mentality that had cost me a little bit, as I didn't go for stacks against a couple of NITs. Of course, they both showed up with AK on an Axx board and decided to play a big pot when I had bottom set. It feels so much better playing now that I am making progress. I was worried that I would have to cheat on my prop bet by playing 10NL to pad the win rate the way things were going, but unless I get another train wreck, that shouldn't be an issue.

I am almost on track for my prop bet this month, with just under 19,000 hands played. It's good to not feel the pressure to get more hands in, but I will probably try to get this mostly complete this week so I don't stress at the end of the month. I am also thinking about getting back into rush, just because I can get more hands in and make those quality hands. Still not sure though, as it is so nice to always have a target at the table.

Downswing reset

Well, This week has been a nightmare for me. I went from having a really good start tot he month back to even in 3 sessions. Right now I am up less than half a buy in, and still behind on my prob bet. It has been a painful process, but hopefully I will get through it. This would be a really bad time to have a breakeven month.

On the plus side, I did get a $50 bonus and I should make some extra money from my hands prop bet (that I am behind on), so that will help with the profit line for this month. Hoping to get in a few good sessions this weekend as the tables are always really soft. If anything can end my run bad, extra soft tables should be it.

Knockin on wood.

Weekend up date

Well, I didn't get in as many hands as I wanted this weekend. Friday I played a really short session, but wound up winning half a buy in through 130 hands. It was one of those great stretches where you make every right decision. I never won more than a couple of bucks on any one hand, but it was a lot of fun.

Saturday started out like gangbusters. I really thought it was going to be my best session every, but alas the poker gods decided to flip the doom switch. I was up 3 and a half buy ins and I get all in pre-flop with AA vs. KK. K on the flop, for 150BB's. No big deal, I came back and was looking at a 4 buy in day when aggro tards kept hitting monsters. In the span of 200 hands I was down a buy in. It was really frustrating to loose that much against really bad players in such a short time, but I gutted it out till I was up and shut it down.

Still behind on my prob bet for hands this month because I passed out last night, but I did catch up a bit. Hoping to get caught up this week.

Roller Coaster

Well, I finally got around to doing a larger session last night. I was pretty tired going into the session, so I decided to nit it up and avoid marginal spots. I was very excited early, when I got paid off on sets twice in the first 50 hands and was up $40. All was going well, then I got top two cracked 4 ways, KK cracked by QT on the river, and ran TT into QQ against someone with a 100% 3 bet over 20 hands. Suddenly my really good start was a long, break even session. But alas, it seems that the poker gods were just messing with me. I wound up winning 3 and a half buy ins and doing a couple of really funny plays. First I got 3 bet by a nit tag holding AA. I decide to flat OOP because I want his stack and his hand is pretty well defined as a big pocket pair. The flop is a beautiful TT8, so I check min raise. I get called and the turn is a 7. I think about leading, but then I decide to check shove. Villan calls and turns up JJ, and I scoop a nice pot.

The other funny hand was AA again. There was a 48/30 with a small 3 bet %. I decide to go for a limp reraise as I was in EP and there were a few aggressive players behind me, but none with a big sample. As expected he iso raises me and I reraise him. He 4 bets me and I do a little jump of joy! I click it back and he flats. Flop is QJx and I put him all in. I was suprised when he showed up with KK, but was more than happy to take his stack.

As for the update, I have 5000 hands in and am up just over 5 buy ins. I'm still beihnd the pace I need, but not that far anymore. I'm feeling pretty confident about this month. I think I will win the prop bet, I got a $50 bonus from tilt that should cover the rakeback hit for my CR subscription, which should be a nice bit of padding to the bankroll.

Roller Coaster

The last couple of days have been interesting. Wnesday I started off well, going up a little over a buy in early, but then dropped 4 buy ins. I won some more, but wound up down 2 buy ins. It was a little tough as it dropped my bank roll lower than it has been in months, and was certainly not how I wanted to start the month when I have the 31K hand challenge going on. Last night started out the same. I would go up a little, then loose it to a nit slow playing AA/KK while I had JJ/QQ. But then I took a bathroom break, and BAM! up 3 buy ins. I was going to go for 1500 hands a session, but I think I will drop that to 1250 and add in a few extra hands on good nights/when I have some extra time (Yeah, I know that's funny). Still, it's good motivation to stay on point and not mess around trying to find other area's of profitability while (hopefully) adding a little extra income for the month.

August Wrap

Well, after a long frustrating month, I actually wound up having a good month overall. I didn't quite meet my goals of $500 and a shot at 50, but no worries.

$230 in winnings.
$115 in rakeback.
$75 in iron man bonus.

$420, or around $8 an hour. I was $100 under EV, so I made my money goals with slansky bucks!

I looked over my sessions last night. I had two sessions where I lost $50, and one session where I lost $150 (and I was actually over EV!). That $150 is what really killed me. At the time I thought I was playing OK, but just looking at the raw numbers, I know I wasn't. I am thinking that from now on I will put in a 2 buy in stop loss next month, as this is two months in a row where 1 or 2 sessions have really killed my month. I mean, if you look at it, I am a winning player, so while I expect to have some outliers both high and low, the high's should be higher than the lows. Instead I have a 6 buy in loss as my worst session, and 2 3 and a half buy ins as my best. Time to put a reign in on that ego. So, for this month I will stop after dropping 2 buy ins and move down to finish up my iron man.

My goal for next month is to get the highest iron man level, win my 31K hand challenge, and make $500 in profit.