March results

3/1 ($30.25), 159 minutes, 300 table-minutes
3/2 $81.50, 147 minutes, 248 table-minutes
3/3 did not play
3/4 ($47.50), 252 minutes, 518 table-minutes
3/5 ($127.50), 202 minutes, 390 table-minutes
3/6 $143.34, 249 minutes, 625 table-minutes
3/7 $106.50, 231 minutes, 475 table-minutes
3/8 $12.02, 152 minutes, 297 table-minutes
3/9 did not play
3/10 $42.69, 198 minutes, 655 table-minutes
3/11 $210.97, 237 minutes, 625 table-minutes
3/12 did not play
3/13 did not play
3/14 (my birthday) $99.00, 144 minutes, 338 table-minutes
3/15 ($61.00), 215 minutes, 574 table-minutes
3/16 did not play
3/17 $153.24, 123 minutes, 446 table-minutes
3/18 $253.94, 212 minutes, 664 table-minutes
3/19 ($100.00), 229 minutes, 584 table-minutes
3/20 did not play
3/21 $14.30, 246 minutes, 544 table-minutes
3/22 did not play (2 root canals...)
3/23 $66.34, 286 minutes, 702 table-minutes
3/24 did not play
3/25 ($65.00), 180 minutes, 180 table-minutes (Foxwoods)
3/26 $10.74, 102 minutes, 196 table-minutes
3/27 ($62.33), 108 minutes, 205 table-minutes
3/28 ($143.18), 129 minutes, 366 table-minutes
3/29 did not play
3/30 ($56.51), 186 minutes, 351 table-minutes
3/31 $27.58, 323 minutes, 839 table-minutes (does not include $32 from last table played)

Total Net change for the month: $528.89
Total Net time for the month (actual hours): 71.850 hours
Total Net time for the month (table-hours): 168.700 table-hours

Real-Hourly rate: $7.361/hr
Table-Hourly rate: $3.135/t-hr

March 1st, 2005 (Tuesday)

Well, its just about time to get started on Pokerplex and Interpoker for the month. So far, minus my one venture into PLO on Interpoker where I flopped horribly (not the cards, but my play in general), they've both treated me well. In January on Pokerplex, I made a profit of $143. In February, I was up $120 on Pokerplex and another $14 on Interpoker (AFTER my $150 loss at PLO...).

This month, I'm hoping to recreate my profits from the previous months, maybe even step them up a bit. I've already set out a plan which I stated at the end of February. I'll repeat it here for completeness:

>> For a month total, if my profit for the month (in online games only) is less than $500 - it will all stay in the bankroll.
>> If my month total is between $500 and $1000, I will keep the first $500 in my bankroll and split the remainder between bankroll and my personal account (for debt repayment).
>> If my month total exceeds $1000, I will put $750 into the bankroll and put the rest into my personal account for debt repayment.

I don't really expect my monthly earnings to get above $1000 in the next few months - just because of the limitation I have on hours played and the limits. However, if I do manage to score a solid tournament win - it could happen. For instance, if I were able to book a $3000 win from a tournament (not unreasonable), and was up another $500 from ring games and other ventures, then $750 is kept in my bankroll and the rest will be used to pay down debt.

Some might say that I should keep the bulk of that in my bankroll. Normally I would agree, however, in this case, I'm still growing the bankroll, but I'll also working on making it so I won't need to withdraw from my bankroll in the future - if my personal finances should take a turn for the worse, for instance.

My online bankroll starts at a total of $1,185.34 split out over 6 poker sites and neteller. If I do manage to post $1000 in profits this month, my bankroll will finish at $1935.34. My minimum goal for the month is $300 - still much higher than I am used to. Over the course of the last six months, here have been my results:

September 2004: 82.05 actual hours, +$81.47 ($0.993/hr)
October 2004: 69.78 hours, +$80.43 ($1.153/hr)
November 2004: 51.07 hours, +$247.61 ($4.849/hr)
December 2004: 54.53 hours, +$65.14 ($1.194/hr)
January 2005: 78.85 hours, +$463.69 ($5.881/hr)
February 2005: 66.60 hours, +$446.86 ($6.710/hr)

This accounts for over $1400 of my total profits. I started playing in September of 2003 and since then, my total profits have been $2904.84. Clearly, my profits have increased lately.

In terms of hours, I will continue to play somewhere between 50 and 80 actual hours - which will probably equate to around 80-140 table-hours. I would love to see my hourly rate at the end of the month anywhere above $10/hr - just because I haven't yet maintained that over the course of a month.

(Continued)

Well, apparently I've already screwed up. On March 1st, I only lost $8.25 at the first table, so my total losses that day were only $30.25 - not a big difference, but a difference nonetheless. I'm going to fix some of the relevant stats about it - so expect some of the errors to disappear...

I finished the PokerPlex bonus last night. Over the course of an hour on 2 tables, I managed to post a total win of $32, so my losses from the other day were negated and with the bonus, I'm up $50 for the month on PokerPlex. For a solid 3 1/2 hours of work - I consider that reasonable.

Last night I played in a NL HE tournament cheapo tournament ($3 buyin, 2046 players, 1st place: ~$1288.xx). I made it through the first hour without any serious missteps, and near the end of the hour I got to triple up to 3500. Unfortunately, I had two hands that made things more complicated.

Hand 1: I have JJ on the button. There's a limper UTG and 3 other limpers to me, I raise up to 700 (blinds were 50/100). Only the BB and one limper calls. There is currently more in the pot than I have in my stack. The flop comes with a queen and it is checked to me. I bet another 700 and the BB (who has me covered) raises all-in. The other player folds - as do I.

Hand 2: (Blinds are 75/150) I have AK in MP. UTG leads with a minimum raise. There are 2 callers to me and I raise all-in to 2200. Only the UTG raiser calls (after much deliberation). He has pocket jacks and catches a JQx flop and I miss my ten.

Other than these two hands, I'm in general happy with my play during the tournament. Wasn't anything special, especially since I finished 824th... but it was still a fun tournament.

While I played the tournament, I was also playing a $2/$4 Omaha Hi/Lo table. One of my early hands there, I'm in the BB with some ragged connected hand with no reasonable low potential (789K rainbow I think). There are 5 limpers and I check. I flop the nut straight with a 7TJ board which is also rainbow. I check (because my hand is precarious at best) and it is checked around to the button, who bets. I check-raise and get 3 callers. The turn is a 4, putting a second heart out and I lead off. The button and one other player calls. The river is a three and the third heart. At this point, I can't believe I'm ahead, so I check. It checks around. And get this - I take the whole pot...

Later on, I have flopped the nut flush draw and nut low draw in LP with 3 other players. The first limper bets out and it calls around. The turn doesn't help, and this time it checks. I check. The river misses me, but it checks around again. I bet out - and take the pot.

However, things were not always rosy as I had top set in another hand that went up against a guy who decided to pursue a runner runner flush to take the high... I barely finished ahead at this table, but it was a loose and rocking table to play on.

One last thing - I transferred some money to my brother-in-law because he helped my wife out earlier yesterday. He's too young to play himself, and while I would normally not bother, his mother is actually supportive of him playing (citing the fact that it is a cheap hobby for him...), so I toss him a few bucks every once in a while. I treat this as money withdrawn from my account, not as a loss.

Numbers for the day:
3/2 9:32pm pokerplex $1/$2 HE ring (10) $40 buyin, 10:38pm, 61 hands, +18
3/2 9:55pm pokerplex $1/$2 HE ring (10) $40 buyin, 10:41pm, 40 hands, +14
3/2 9:32pm - 10:41pm 101 hands, +50 bonus
$171.75
$20 transfer from Pokerstars to Nolan
3/2 10:30pm pokerstars $3 NL HE multi (2046) 5650926, 824th, 11:42pm, 54 hands, -3
3/2 10:55pm $2/$4 O8 ring (10) $60 buyin, 11:59pm, 58 hands, +2.50
$305.23

Net change for the day: $81.50
Net time for the day: 147 minutes (2 hours, 27 minutes); 248 table-minutes (4 table-hours, 8 table-minutes)

Total Net change for the month: $51.25
Total Net time for the month (actual hours): 5.100 hours
Total Net time for the month (table-hours): 9.133 table-hours

Real-Hourly rate: $10.049/hr
Table-Hourly rate: $5.612/t-hr

March 3rd, 2005 (Thursday)

I probably won't be playing any poker tonight after all. While I am able to go to the poker night I mentioned yesterday, as it turns out, it seems that it won't be running. Oh well, no big deal.

Lindsay and I are still going out to dinner (despite complications with the babysitter situation) and we'll probably either go to this little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in Milford called Cafe Sorento or one of the other places near our new house which we haven't tried. The last few times that we've had dinner out its either been to a Chinese restaurant or to a franchise restaurant. It'll be nice to have some of the nice meals at some of the local dives again.

In any case, Lindsay and I will probably just enjoy the rest of the night on our own. The only possible way I'll be playing poker tonight is if she passes out early from having too much wine, but it doesn't matter because I'll be happy to take a night off anyway.

In terms of my application, I made some good progress last night and this morning (since I woke up early...). I've got about 1/4 of the data dictionary done and I've finished up the web pages that needed changes. I've got one more to send in to update the site - but otherwise I think that part is done. Apparently the developer I'm working with has made some serious progress in getting his last few items done - so I'll be optimistic and say he'll have something for me by the end of the weekend.

I think I'm probably still behind my own personal deadline - but not by much. If I get some extra cycles in this weekend - that might make the difference that I need.

Okay - time for a brief rant:

Lindsay and I had contemplated going to a movie tonight. Where we live there are no less than 8-10 movie theatres within a half hour and 3 of them are within 15 minutes. The kids have coverage starting after 7:30pm. So does anyone want to take a guess as to how many movies start between 7:45pm and say 9pm? Let's go theatre by theatre shall we?

1. Regal Bellingham 14 (yes 14 screens): 1 movie - Constantine, starts at 8pm.
2. Franklin Zeotrope (cheap theatre, my preference): 3 movies (out of 3) - In Good Company (9pm), The Incredibles (8:50pm - we've already seen it), Meet the Fockers (8:55pm)
3. Elm Draughthouse Theatre (1 screen) - none
4. Blackstone Valley Cinema de Lux (not sure how many screens, but they have 15 movies listed): Because of Winn Dixie (8pm), Hitch (7:45pm - this theatre's 1/2 hour away...), Man of the House (7:50pm)
5. Regal Westborough (12 screens): The Aviator (8:30pm - 3 hr movie - probably too late), Constantine (7:45pm - again 1/2 hour away)
6. North Attleboro: none
7. AMC Framingham (16 screens): The Aviator (8:30pm - see above),
8. Jordan's IMAX theatre: Aliens of the Deep (documentary) (7:55pm - might be close... but Lindsay isn't interested...)

The remaining 2 are drive-ins that are closed for the winter...

So out of these, can anyone take a guess as to how many I'm even remotely interested in seeing?

0....

although Hitch had its moments, I like the Incredibles for being just a movie you can sit back and enjoy, and I haven't seen Meet the Fockers or the Aviator but I loved Meet the Parents and heard good things about the Aviator.

I didn't like Meet the Parents (one person in the world I guess... I didn't really like There's Something About Mary either - go figure...)

Aviator I definitely am interested in seeing - unfortunately it exceeds the time allotted for the time out tonight...

Hitch I'm back and forth on - though I'm sure I'd enjoy it as I like both James and Smith - so both would seem to be a good combination. The Incredibles was a great movie - worth seeing twice in my opinion - but just not what I'm looking for tonight unfortunately.

The funny thing is - I'm really not that picky - but it sure seems like I am...

In any case, it sounds like its dinner then back home for the premier of the new Law and Order show (Trial by Jury).

March 7th, 2005 (Monday)

Well this weekend was just all over the place, so hopefully I'll be able to bear down and actually post some profit tonight. I've got my regular $10+1 Omaha Hi/Lo tournament and I might even try the $10+1 rebuy tournament again - though given that I have to work tomorrow, there is less chance of that happening.

Unfortunately, I've already got a fair number of hours booked, but not much in terms of profit, so I think my hourly rate this month is just going to be bad - unless I happen to have a nice score in one of my tournaments... I'm still aiming for $1000 in profits this month - especially since earlier today I found out that Lindsay will be losing her job at the diner she works at soon. It only amounted to $60 or so per week, but it was the extra little bit that really made things work for us.

One thing I've been watching is my progress at $2/$4 - which I've only been playing since January. For Omaha Hi/Lo, I've played 1658 hands, with a net win of $155.50. My BB/100 there is 2.345 - which is certainly not bad - but I'm also still getting wide variations (especially since my last session of $2/$4 was $164 in the positive!).

For $2/$4 hold'em things are not nearly as rosy. After 670 hands there, I've lost $144 - for a net rate of (5.373BB/100 hands). I'll continue to monitor it, but I'll probably still give it the college try for another 10,000 hands or so, unless things turn drastically worse (in which case, I'll just drop down) or better (in which case, I might even move up - though that's less likely).

To move up to $3/$6, I want at least $1800 in my account after I'm done with the trip to Foxwoods in May. Right now, my online accounts have a total of $1183 - and I expect I'll be taking out around $400-$1000 for the trip (depending on how much leeway I have when May comes). If I win while there, the money will be redeposited into my account, so it may not matter anyway. I don't foresee heading up to $3/$6 before Foxwoods just because I know I need to be ultra-conservative with my bankroll until then.

In terms of Foxwoods - I do need to start getting things organized - as the group I'm bringing down is somewhere between 2 and 30 people (with plenty of Maybe's).

March 9th, 2005 (Wednesday)

One of the things I've been trying to work through is my progress so far this year versus my progress for the previous year. I made around $1600 over the course of the twelve months of 2004. So far in less than three months of 2005, I'm at over $1000 in profits. Here's some of my thoughts as to why things seem to be changing:

1. Bonuses - this year I've started picking up on the cryptos, which means I have monthly bonuses to work towards. In addition, I'm able to make use of reload bonuses to their full extent as they come up because my bankroll has grown enough to keep $600+ in my Neteller account.
2. Ring games - I seem to be doing better with ring games now than I was doing with SNGs earlier. As such, I find myself playing more ring games and less SNGs. Also, I'm forcing myself to play on the other sites more - and on other sites I exclusively play the ring games.
3. Tournaments - I've cut down on the tournaments I'm willing to play and I think this has helped me make the minor cashes that I've earned thus far this year. I'm also playing fewer tournaments - which helps since I haven't had a final table yet this year.
4. Increase in Limits - I've moved up to $2/$4 and although I'm not playing it exclusively, I seem to be doing well enough to affect my bottomline.

What comes out of this however is a greater variance in my bankroll. In all of 2004, I had a single night where I was down over $100 (actually $178.21). So far in 2005, I've had 4 occurances, one which was $240. However, the other thing to note about my losses is that I seem to be experiencing less of them. In 2004, I booked 139 winning sessions and 109 losing sessions. In 2005 so far, I've had 37 winning sessions and only 11 losing ones.

I guess the biggest thing for me is the fact that I just have a hard time posting a loss. Granted, when I do post a loss, it is generally bigger than last year - but it is still within the realm of reason. The important thing for me, at this point, is becoming comfortable with the new winning/losing range that I can experience.

In terms of poker tonight, I probably won't play much - as I have promised myself to work on my application and also to give Lindsay some time on the computer. I want to finish up the data dictionary tonight as well as provide the latest scripts to my partner in the endeavor so that we are all synched up.

If I do play tonight, I will be playing on Interpoker most likely to continue working on the bonus over there. I played 298 hands last night and I estimate 40-60% of them were raked. Since I need 450 raked hands, I very much doubt that I'd be able to finish it tonight.