I am rather inspired today. I have been bored silly at work, plus I hate my job, so I have been reading through a lot of the other older journals. It is nice to here some of the stories and see the amazing results some people put up

I doubt Kenny reads this, but man, your journal is VERY well written, entertaining, and educational. I seriously blew like 2 hours reading it! Nice

So I have to go this crappy festival of nations thing tonight with my wife and some friends. Basically it is a gathering of foods and booths from different cultures around the world. You can spend like 20 buy ins on stuff. It probably is fun but I was much more interested in getting back to building the new mini-roll

I have to say, when I loaned the money to myself for debt clearing and travel expenses I was fairly bummed out. After all it meant I wasn't going to get to play poker at the same levels I had been. I have been playing $100 NL ring games since last year sometime and I play a lot of MTT and an occassional S&G, but to be honest I have been really inspired by other's journals and I am looking at this as a cool challenge. I would love to build the roll up enough to get back to $100 NL, then I can shoot for $200 which is where I want to be by the end of the year.

anyway I am encouraged and excited for tonight and my first $10 NL sessions in like....wow, a long ass time.

Well Friday I went to the crappy festival of nations, have to say this was somewhat of a waste, although the food was ok

not many places where you can chow down on a Gyro, some pirogies, and some eggrolls all at the same place

i wasn't feeling well so i only played about an hour Friday night, I lost $10 but i saw no hands

Saturday i played for roughly 1.5 hours and worked the baby roll back to $185

Sunday during the day I did some yardwork and 3 tabled $10 NL 6-max tables, I made $14 and decided to take a break for dinner, I will hit the tables again later tonight

sadly there was no interesting hands to post, $10NL 6-max tables are terrible, wow, just terrible play there, I guess i shouldn't be surprised

Baby bankroll; $199

Edit: quick update of some random stats after an evening session, I may have one more session before bed

so far from May
$ won: $29.55
Total hands: 784
hours: 10.5
bb/hr: 14.07
bb/100: 18.85
VP$P: 25.13
not bad

Baby Bankroll: $210

not a bad start for the re-building of the roll, not bad at all

Well last night I played some softball. My Monday night league is awesome, we play double headers. Why am I telling you this? because I seriously just about ripped my knee off yesterday. I was running back to make a catch and sort of jumped (I did make the catch!) but when I came down my back, left leg was locked when it hit, my knee went backwards, knee's aren't supposed to do that.

turns out it isn't serious I just sprained it but still, it was scary for a bit.

I then grabbed my buddies poker table and chips for my home cash game on Friday!

Poker

so I had a pretty good run last night. I started the night off losing $20 on the $10 tables, I took a break and I had dinner, after dinner I hit the tables with a vengeance

I was doing well, working the roll back up and was about to quit when I hit this hand (sorry no converter at work)

I raise JJ UTG

two callers

Flop comes J 4 3, two clubs

I bet out, one guy pushes in for $12, the other guy folds. I laugh and call he has AJ. Lee Jones decides to make him angry by spiking a A on the river just for fun

I play one more orbit and was about to quit when I look downin the cut off with 9T suited. not a great hand.

UTG raises .32 *huh?* my notes read "raises strange amounts with AK"

oh in that case, I call, the button comes alone as well

flop comes Q J K rainbow. Well, ok UTG checks, I bet, button pushes all-in for $7, ok UTG calls. Hmmm well I KNOW he has AK

I shove my $30 stack in, he calls (he has $25)

turns out they both have AK (and here I was worried with the ass end of the straight) just to fuck with them Lee Jones spikes an A on the river giving each of them top two.

all in all a nice night for me

Baby Bankroll: $245

Good luck dude. It sounds like you are starting off on the right foot. I also started with just $100 back in September, and have now built that up to over 6k. It is definately doable (You are bonus whoring, right?).

Oh, and it's nice to see another MN boy over here at BTP (I grew up in Coon Rapids and live in Rochester now)

well I always kept my roll was right around 2K for the most part, I took the majority of my winnings to pay off debt and such, until I spent it all on other things.

so I am playing games I have beat before, I am confident I can get it back up. The nice thing is all my debt is paid off so I have no reason to touch the roll anymore

I went to High School in coon rapids actually

well I just spent the past two days in Iowa for work
that sucks balls

I can't stress enough how boring Des Moines is. Of course I did have the best steak I have ever eaten there, at this place called Rube's Steakhouse
http://www.rubesmeat.com/store/default.asp

Anyway I didn't play much poker the last couple days. Working twelve hour days doesn't leave a lot of time for that, I did manage to drop the bankroll down a few bucks when I did play!

I made a terrible call when I was up a buy-in to lose that, then I lost nearly another buy-in against the same guy. Both hands he did the check min-raise and I was too tired to even be paying attention.

I shut off the computer after that

I am having a cash poker game tonight, somehting that I have planned for a while now, I am trying to make it a regular game. I had money set aside for this event so it doesn't come from this bankroll, however any winnings I will be transfering to the roll
hopefully it should be fun. I will try to keep notes and write a report on the event this weekend!


Baby roll: $229

I only worked a half a day so i decided to get a session or two in before the home game tonight

On a whim i decided to play some $25 NL 6-max. While this isn't really in my bankroll I am fairly confident i can play it with the money i do have

i have to say the amount of interesting hands i have had at these levels has been really very few but this one cracked me up.

I think the time it took me to call was about ,000005 seconds, i figured him for one of three hands, flush draw or AK or AA

Poker Stars
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.10/$0.25
6 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $5.55
UTG+1: $39.75
Hero: $37.20
Button: $4.75
SB: $14.60
BB: $9.65

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with
UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, Hero raises to $1.25, 3 folds, UTG calls, UTG+1 calls.

Flop: ($4.1, 3 players)
UTG checks, UTG+1 is all-in $38.5, Hero calls all-in $35.95, UTG folds.
Uncalled bets: $2.55 returned to UTG+1.

Turn: ($76, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $76)


River: ($76, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $76)


Results:
Final pot: $76
UTG+1 showed Ah Ac
Hero showed Qh Qc

Baby Roll; $265

I posted this in the NL hold em section but here is a recap of the home game

Here is a recap of the home game I hosted friday night, and some background on it

I wanted to start a once a month home game. i have a lot of freinds who are just getting into poker and sme who are in to it but don't get to play a lot. My idea was not to take a lot of money off of my friends but it was to get a rotating group of about 20 people who were interested and play once a month, that way someone didn't feel pressured to be there every month

really the worst thing that could happen is for me to win big and everyone else not too in this game

The interest in this game was good, I had 15 people interested and I had a list of ten with a five person waiting list. I decided to do a cash NL hold em game, $10 Min, $50 max buy-in
.25 cent and .50 cent blinds

so the day before the game a few people drop out and we are down to 8, the waiting list people are all busy or can't make it, well 8 is good, of course Friday morning a buddy from Wisconsin can't make it because his brand new car broke down, DOH!

so 7 it is, here is a list of players

ME

Tim; Tim is a loose passive player if there ever was one. He will call down the board with A high or a full house and maybe never raise you. He plays TONS of pots but when he catches he destroys a table

John: I hadn't played with John but he was a tight decent player. He is just getting interested in cards in the last year or so but he has all the tools to be a good player, he is aggressive when he is in pots, all in all John played the very well in this game

Lee: Lee is a lot like John, only a little looser and can be tricky when he has too. My only fault with lee's game is he will often bet a weak hand strong, which is fine but when someone else has a decent hand he has trouble letting go of his cards

Evan: Evan is very new to poker and mostly only has played home tournament games. I thought Even played very well, he did a goo job reading the texture of the table as the night went on.

Mike; Mike is shawn's best friend, I never played with him but he was tight and somewhat passive

Shawn: Shawn is a very interesting poker player to me. When he first started he was VERY loose aggressive but as he has played more he has really doe a good job refining the LAG style. He plays a lot of pots and is very aggressive. He will shove in with nothing or quads, you just don't know with him. He will call you down with a gut shot and bust you as well. Very fearless, I really respect Shawn's game.

SO we get going. Everyone is playing and having a good time,

very first hand i am in the SB with AA, yep


a couple limpers and i raise to $2
Tim calls, and a coupe others

the board is ragged so I bet, TIm calls

hmm well he could have anything

turn comes I bet, he calls

ok, river comes and puts a 4 card straight on the board (Tim would need a 3 to make a straight) I check, he bets, I laugh and say "Tim your the only one here who would have a 3 I fold" I show one A and Tim shows me the 3.

Tim donked off a few chips here and there with some marginal hands (most of them going to shawn). then a few hands later I get 72 in the BB

I check the flop comes 9[d] Q[d] 4[c]

Shawn checks, I bet the pot, Mike folds Shawn min check raises me, i call

turn is 5[d] Shawn bets, I raise, he calls

river is 8[s]
shawn checks, I bet about $10, he calls, he flopped top two and i take it down

Shawn spends the next hour pushing everyone around, he puts Tim, Lee, and Evan all-in each once. He is slowly building a monster stack. There is a re-buy here and there but not too bad.

A few hands Later i raise to $2 with TT

Tim calls

flop comes 4 K 8 rainbow. i bet the pot and tim calls
Turn is a 8, I bet the pot tim calls. Now this may seem reckless but Tim could literrally have anything here, he could have a 4 an 8 a K an underpair or even A high,

River is T I put Tim all in, he is short stacked somewhat. He calls, I take it down, he had A4

Now I am slowly building a monster stack. I take a hand off John later with a set of 8's but don't get too much out of him

then comes the hand of the night. Shawn has about $130 in front of him. he is just shoving the table around and he is doing great
I have about $140 in front of me, I am playing tight but to be honest I am catching cards like you wouldn't believe. So it's more cards than me really

so I raise to $2 with QQ and get 4 callers, that's right. I am in the BB Shawn is to my right on the button

The flop comes 5 6 Q rainbow. normally I wouldn't check here but this flop is about as uncordinated as they come and I am hoping to tap someone in.

everyone checks to Shawn who bets, I smooth call as does John

Turn is a A completing the rainbow

I check, and John checks, shawn bets out about $10, I check raise shawn to $25, John folds. Shawn calls

river is a 7

I bet about $40 into about a $70 pot, Shawn pushes me all in

Now I was really agonizing here. Against anyone else at the table I would insta-call but against Shawn there is a SLIGHT chance he cause a straight on the turn or river. 34 on button is definately i his range as is 89 and in the past he has called bets with those hands (though not this game) Now I was fairly certain I was ahead here but we were both really deep stacked. i struggled then finally called, shawn flipped over 55, I set over setted him.

everyone at the table sort of just got quiet, this was about a $300 pot. wow

so the night goes on, Shawn re-buys and actually ends up making a great comeback

John was VERY unlucky. He raise preflop with TT

Lee called, the flop came T 8 4 or something. he checked, Lee checked

turn was a 6 or 9. John bets, and they end up getting all in, the free card gave Lee a straight! Oops, that is why i hate slow playing sets, so john doesn't improve

Later he would bust with top two against QQ

of course the board pairs tens on the turn and river to conterfiet John's two pair, just shitty luck on his part, which is too bad because he payed very well

Evan did the same thing, he played very well but got unlucky on a J high flop (he had JQ, Shawn had J4 and spiked two pair)

Shawn ended up making a huge comback and for the night he actually made money
which really impressed me

all in all in was a fun night, the cards totally ran me over and I crushed the table but in a lot of ways I would have much rather not done that. My goal was to make a fun regular game and I hope I didn't drive anyone way for futur games, I really thought everyone played well with the exception of Tim but that is sort of his game and I really hope next time someone else takes home the big money!

I finished the night at $300

I donked off about $50 in the las thalf of the night just playing loose and having fun

well aside from the home game this weekend was pretty stupid for playing poker

The bankroll took it's first hit but a lot of that was me being stupid and playing in some MTT. I happen to really like MTT and I fall into the trap of playing a few of the cheap ones over a long day with nothing else to do

combine that with losing a stack in 6-max when I flopped an under straight against a dude who flopped the high end and well the baby roll took a minor hit.

Sadly this must be the most boring journal entry ever. I have had very few interesting hands to post (most are just standard play) maybe that has a lot to do with the limits I am playing? I don't know.

anyway I will have to find other ways to bore my faithfull readers (like I have any!)

Baby roll: $220

well last night was very frustrating

I spent every session getting down half to a full buy-in and then trying to claw my way back to even or above

I started off by getting KK and losing half a stack to a guy who flopped a set

I then donked off another half a stack when my AA ran into a 24 and he flopped two pair (because why wouldn't he?)

however like a trooper I am I fought back to even on most tables. eventually I finished off the night by outflopping a guy (flopping a straight) and stacking him when he couldn't dump his QQ for a profit of $8 on the night!

yea! nothing like playing 2+ hours and making $8

Baby roll: $228

On a personal note this week should be a ball. Saturday I am hitting the paintball fields with some friends to shoot the crap out of each other, always a good time. Plus if it ever stops raining in the state I can get outside and enjoy the two weeks of summer we finally get around here.

I struggle with the journal idea. Anyone here can read about poker on this site and numerous others so to actually read someone's journal you would want something that grabs your attention or entertains you, this journal doesn't do that very well! I like the idea of writing this thing though.

anyway

Random life stuff. So I just booked my trip to Vegas in July for the WSOP. I am going to try and win a one table sattelitte to the 2K July 21st NL hold em event. My plan to pay for this is I will be re-paying the bankroll back right before I leave, unless I have a monster run of cards between then and now. I also hope to play in some cash games while I am there, of course.

I am pretty stoked, it has been about 3 years since I last was in Vegas and I am looking forward to heading back.

In addition to that I am sending the wife to Iceland in early July, what does that mean? well I will finally have time to head back to Wisconsin then to hit the casino for some live NL action! I am pretty stoked

As for poker?

well last night was a short but decent session. I did butcher one hand where I flopped a set and the other guy had top two and somehow I didn't stack him (most becuase I am an idiot and I didn't play it very well, out of position). but play at the $10 and $25 NL tables isn't too exciting. I haven't been posting too many hands but frankly there hasn't been much of interest, pretty much a lof of ABC play. Mostly I am just trying to get the roll up to $600 - 750 so I can switch to $50 NL, although getting hours in this month has been tough
I realize that my roll would only be 12-15 buy in's but I am confident I can do ok with that.

Anyway this week and weekend promises to be busy. I have a painting commission to get done plus I am playing paintball so if I can get 10 hours of poker in between now and Monday I will be happy. Next week I plan to hit the tables hard till the end of the month to build the baby roll

Baby Roll: $248

I still have nothing to exciting to add to my journal, sadly, maybe I need to run a naked picture of the week or something...

last night I played for about and hour and did well. I did make one mistake, I called a river bet with an overpair with two pair on the board, plus a straight, plus a flush, pretty much any two cards beat me, not sure what I was thinking.

oh well. so far this month I have just about 2,200 hands in 20 hours. NOt very good. this month hasn't been the best for playing cards but the next couple weeks shoudl change that. MY goal is to get 40 more hours in this month, hopefully I can do that.

Baby Roll: $277

well no naked lady of the day pic yet, but I did play some poker last night!

so I started off last night with a couple terrible losing sessions. I had Mr. Table Captain call me down (as a short stack) with anything. I raised real hands and hit and he called with literally nothing and caught nearly every time against me, I was frustrated so I took a break and had dinner.

Baby roll: $252

After dinner I went back to the tables. Again I had the short stack all-in donkey (very common at $10 and $25 NL 6-max tables I noticed) who seemed to suck out on me every time. He won three hands against me with 23, K4, and J6. Yeah

anyway I started raising more and more on his table with total junk and my image was pretty loose and bad

so I look down at J[c]T[c] and raise it to $1 ($25 NL 6-max)

one guy calls, seems decent but no real reads.

Flop comes Q 8 T rainbow. I bet the pot and he calls.
ok

turn is a T. Well I push him in (he has about a $1 over the pot) he calls with QQ!!!

ooops

river, T. Nice to hit a one outer every once in a while! Thank you Lee Jones!

Very next hand AA

I raise, 1 caller

flop is ragged and he bets into me, I call

turn is a K

he bets into me, I shove, he calls with KQ and I take down the pot. My image was so bad before this that everyone was calling me. After these two hands I had to drop this table because no one would play with me. Oh well, I played a little MLB 06 - the show and did some dishes and hit the sack!

all in all a decent night (considering I was down a buy in almost)

Mini-Roll: $282

I think Lee Jones hates me. I must have accidentally dated his daughter in college or something. I have yet to have a huge session on Poker Stars since my re-building efforts began last night I was well on my way, but after some donktastic hands I shut her down after only a half hour/forty five minutes.

ONe thing that I find funny is no one at the $10 NL and $25 NL pays any attention to the players. I was in complete control of my tables, up about a buy in on each and rolling along nicely. I was only showing premium hands and I raise premium hands and people call me with K7s and crap like that.

so yeah I am not really used to that. At least at the $100NL tables half the table is paying attention and not willing to tangle without a real hand, oh well. I still won money last night but not as much as I should have, $300 seems to be my white whale, I just can't seem to catch it for some reason.

Mini-me Roll: $292