Yes it is indeed good to be back in black... I probably won't get to play tonight, so Saturday is pretty much my last chance to make a decent number out of the month. Even if I don't though, I am satisfied with the fact that I've recovered from a $450 loss.

Anyway, bri - if you are working on bonuses that only require a raked hand, I think 25PLO is fine. However, if you are on a site that has a minimum rake or increases as you get more rake - I think limit is the way to go. For example:

At pokerstars, you release $1 for every 5FPP earned. However, you earn a FPP only when you reach $1 in rake ($20 pot) in NL and PL games. If you are playing $1/$2 limit, you get a FPP from $.75 in rake ($15 pot). If you are playing $2/$4 limit, you get a FPP from $1 in rake (again, $20 pot). $20 pots are frequent and normal at $2/$4 - I don't think the same could be said of 25PLO.

/d

Well, as expected, I didn't have much time to play last night (though that had more to do with a self-imposed time limit than actual circumstances). It was a good time, but I had plenty of house work to do before Lindsay got home and then I was ready to go to sleep. Made it an early night at 11:45pm.

Anyways, I played on two tables at GamesGrid and pretty quickly needed to reload on one of them after my aces UTG got cracked and my queens on the button fell victim to an overaggressive SOB who decided that 47o was a good hand and raised it on all streets. To make it worse, I flopped a queen - he rivered his straight - gutshot and runner runner... grrr.

Of course, I reloaded when I had pocket sevens and figured I was going to get beat on the river (I didn't improve, but bet it the whole way). He called me on the river (the board was JT43A) - but my sevens took it. I went on to win about $20 from that table. The other table was nothing special and I only picked up enough to stay afloat of the blinds.

Lastly, I played shortly at the Perry Friedman table on Full Tilt Poker ($2/$4 Stud, 7 players max). He was very talkative and generally made for a good game. I took him for about $20 myself, but redistributed it when my aces up didn't pan out and got beat by another player's boat. He had a smaller two pair and rivered it - but I can't be too upset, since I only showed a pair of sixes up.

So it wasn't a big night, but another nice little win. Here's the numbers:

GG 4/28 8:26pm $2/$4 HE ring (9) $80 buyin, $40 rebuy, 10:04pm +27
GG 4/28 8:48pm $2/$4 HE ring (9) $80 buyin, 10:04pm, +4
$271.10 +6 (30.75, 2926)

FTP 4/28 9:37pm $2/$4 Stud (8) $80 buyin, 10:05pm, 38 hands, +3.90
$131.35

Net change for the day: $40.90
Net time for the day: 1.650 hours, 3.367 table-hours

Total Net change for the month: $56.98
Total Net time for the month (actual hours): 81.933 hours
Total Net time for the month (table-hours): 196.633 table-hours

Real-Hourly rate: $0.695/hr
Table-Hourly rate: $0.290/t-hr

April 29th, 2005 (Friday)

Well, apparently my date-night with my wife is in a bit of jeapordy. She normally doesn't sit for kids on Friday nights anymore, but the person that she switches off with apparently was in a car accident - so she'll be going into work unless her alternate decides she's good enough to go anyway. Not a big deal, Lindsay and I get plenty of time with each other, and obviously this is a rare occurence, so I'll just roll with it and play some poker tonight after all.

I got an email to try out Superior Poker. It didn't look like anything special, so I probably won't since I've never heard of it and there are plenty of other places I'd try first.

Since I'll be playing tonight, I'm still hopefull about making the $200 mark for the month and will probably push it tonight to make it. This could mean I spend a lot of time playing beyond my reasonable limit - but if things are going well, I will. Also, if I do hit $200 profit tonight, I could very well get up right at that moment.

In terms of where to play, I'm just not sure yet. I'll probably have GamesGrid up, as I've only played 11 hours or so there so far (and so I've only made $66 in prop play so far) - maybe two tables. Beyond that, I'm thinking either Ultimate Bet or Full Tilt. I'd play on the cryptos, but I figure I'll get plenty of that starting Monday.

The best thing about Monday though is getting that immediate boost to my account from GamesGrid. Granted, I'm still running a loss there, but it is quickly closing up (and after Monday will be gone completely). Now that I've started to really figure out my play there, I think I will be comfortable playing until they discontinue the VFP program. If I can get my bankroll there up to around $500 - I'll even start mixing in some $3/$6 - as it is the same players as $2/$4 most of the time.

-----------------------

Next up is coming up with a plan for May. I think I might keep the same plan on my bankroll for May as I did for April, with one exception. On May 13th-15th, my wife and I and some friends are going to Foxwoods. For this event, I'll be taking money out of my bankroll to play poker with (and it will probably be returned after we return, assuming there is something to return).

This event is something I've been planning for about 5-6 months, so its a pretty big one to me. Given the schedule of who is going to be around when, I figure most of Friday will be spent in the poker room. Saturday we'll probably have a relaxing day and will get some playing time in and then Sunday Lindsay has a massage (so I'll be playing poker then too...). Originally, I was going to take $400 for us both for just poker. However, the more I think about it, the more I think $800 would be a better number. With my online roll at or around $1750, I'll still have enough to cautiously play $2/$4 when we get back, especially if between now and the Wednesday before we leave I pick up the bonuses at the 3 cryptos I now have accounts with.

My main goal for the money that we take out for gaming is to put it back. I expect that we will spend a little time at some of the casino games for their enjoyment (because not everyone plays poker and because Lindsay and I both enjoy Carribean Stud for instance), so if we can break even between those and poker - I think we'll be doing good. If we end up making some money and start eating into the cost of the trip overall - even better. In all honesty though, I'm just not sure how much we'll have left after the weekend.

I've been trying to figure out when I need to have the appropriate amount in my Neteller account, and to be safe, I'm thinking to start transferring money into it starting on the Monday before we leave. If the money is freed up beforehand, I'll probably start moving it around then, that way I won't be stressing about it.

The rest of the trip is probably going to cost in the range of $1k or so. Anything less than this is gravy obviously, but with the nice italian dinner on Saturday and the massage on Sunday - I just don't see it happening. Hopefully, we'll be able to comp some things to ease the burden a little.

-----------------------

Well, I just got another call from my wife and it appears our date-night is back on. The person who was in the accident is a little shaken and doesn't really want to drive, but she really doesn't want to be at home - so she's going over anyway. If I was in an accident that took me to the hospital - I think I'd take a few days break from driving and work. I guess that's just not her style though. In any case, I'm glad, because now I get some time with my wife...

I think we have some wine at home too - so maybe we'll have some drinks tonight too. I really don't drink anymore, which is great because it was costing us a fortune when I was a little drunk fish. I went out with one of our friends one night and with just the two of us drinking, we finished off the better part of $200 on scorpion bowls and head hunters. Then there was always the nights that we would mix up 2 gallons of Alabama Slammer and finish them both off... Now I have one drink and I'm feeling good.

I guess this is long enough for now. I still have plenty to think about for May, but I guess that can wait until then. Have a good weekend everyone.

End of month April 30th, 2005 (Saturday)

Okay, so everyone watched in pain as I slid my way down $450 this month, and luckily I turned it around. I managed to finish up for the month, not a lot - but at least it was a positive number. Also, with regard to the grand scheme of things, with the exception of January, February and March, April's total was right in line with most of my previous months. That being said, I was still upset about the month as a whole.

I didn't end up playing on Friday and played a fair amount of Saturday. Although at one point on Saturday I was up almost $100, I kept playing and eventually cashed out only a $33 winner. Not a big deal since the majority of my loss came on two hands that occured simultaneously at GamesGrid. In both I flopped a set (middle and bottom) and in both lost to bigger sets. Obviously I'm not too upset about it (in terms of the loss), and the fact that I kept my head about me afterwards is a good sign.

If anyone hasn't noticed, I'll let you know that I am crushing all 7-Card Stud games I play lately. 7-Stud is the reason why I got out of my hole in April and has already posted a nice win for me in May. I have been experimenting playing 2-3 tables of it and I'm starting to feel more comfortable with it. My starting hand selection still needs work and I have some ideas I need to work out, but those will be posted in the Stud section.

Anyway, here are the stats from Saturday:

GG 4/30 3:47pm $2/$4 HE ring (9) $80 buyin, 5:55pm, +21.75
GG 4/30 4:15pm $1/$2 HE ring (9) $40 buyin, $20 rebuy, 5:50pm, -25
$273.85 +7 (38, 2920)

GG 4/30 8:33pm $2/$4 HE ring (9) $80 buyin, 12:57am, +11
GG 4/30 8:35pm $2/$4 HE ring (9) $80 buyin, $40 rebuy, 12:56am, -86
$198.85, +28 (-7 from earlier) (141.50, $2920)

FTP 4/30 8:46pm $2/$4 Stud (8) $80 buyin, Perry Friedman, 11:04pm, 133 hands, +83.60
$214.95

Net change for the day: $33.35
Net time for the day: 6.533 hours, 14.767 table-hours

Total Net change for the month: $90.33
Total Net time for the month (actual hours): 88.467 hours
Total Net time for the month (table-hours): 211.400 table-hours

Real-Hourly rate: $1.021/hr
Table-Hourly rate: $0.427/t-hr

So not quite $100 for the month, but also the most hours I've played in month (and table-hours by a long shot). The hourly rate is shot, but in the end, I guess I'm really just happy I survived. There are a lot of reasons I could have stopped playing when I was down. Credit another point to the supportive wife (and the one who likes to kick my ass when I complain about losing...).

Also, the hours aren't really done justice here since May will get credit for the bonus at GamesGrid for prop play from this week. It should be right in the range of $120 this week, so it's unfortunate that it has to wait.

I'll have next month's plan up in a little while in a new topic.

Good luck in May everyone.

/d