The Past

As I've been working my way back into poker, I am suddenly set back with almost identical starting conditions as 3 years ago.

For those who don't know me or who need the refresher course, here's what happened:

On September 13th of 2003, I deposited $100 into Pokerstars with money that I really couldn't afford to lose. I dabbled in tournaments and sit and go's and some penny stakes.

At the end of the month, I had somehow managed to drag my bankroll up to $199.65. Over the course of the month, my high point was around $250. Also in this time I had read a book or two on Omaha Hi/Lo and Hold'em (in addition to years of home game experience).

On October 23rd, I withdrew that initial deposit - my bankroll had once again exceeded $250, and I decided to take it out to reinforce my justification to be able to play. I ended the month at $218.02 - all pure profit.

November was a tough month though, and I posted my first loss over that time frame, but I was still confident - despite having 4 winning sessions ($2.50, $3.50, $5.50 and $32.84) and 10 losing sessions ($0.85 - $22.81). I finished the month at $176.45

I finished out the year with another withdrawal of $100 and a transfer to pay off a debt of $85. Net total, I finished up $328.71 in 2003.

2004 was a solid year, and I only continued my success. I moved away from playing mostly sit and go's to more ring games - eventually feeling comfortable at Limit $1/$2 Omaha and Hold'em.

I branched out in 2004, adding in accounts at Empire and Ultimate Bet about half-way through the year. I also opened an account at Planet Poker but didn't play much because I wasn't all that impressed.

I finished 2004, with a bankroll of $523.97 - after having made a profit of $1665.58 over the course of it.

2005 was an amazing year for me from day one. I branched into $2/$4 and soon into $3/$6 as from month to month I met and exceeded previous records for monthly totals. It broke off in April with my worst month of the year at $90 profit - but expanded like crazy after that - making me $1600+ in May alone.

Towards the end of the 3rd quarter, I started to drift away from poker and by November was mostly playing an hour or two a week with a tournament thrown in from time to time. In mid-November, I hit my biggest score - a $2400+ 5th place finish in the $10 rebuy tournament on Pokerstars. Two weeks later - I withdrew all but ~$100 to cover bills and holiday expenses.

The Present

I pretty much didn't start playing again until the last two weeks - since the New Year really. I've been dabbling in a few tournaments (just the $1-3 buyins), and $5 sit and go's - usually the 2 or 3-table ones. Just last night, I moved up to the $10 tables - and played 2 3-table SNGs. The first I got knocked out in 9th when the big stack called my all in of AA with his own TT and he flopped quads. I finished 2nd in the latter one - so I had a decent night - pulling me back above a $200 bankroll.

I'm not sure what my plans are for the future of my poker playing right now. I need to be bringing in more money - so getting some out of poker is a big desire. It may be a long time to get back to where I was - but I can already see that it is going faster now that I know what I'm doing.

Since I know I'm comfortable with limits as high as $5/$10 - and SNGs and tournaments with buyins up to $50-$200 - I think I'll be on an accelerated climb. It may be a little bit riskier - but at the same time the question of whether I can handle the limits I'm at currently is not needed. I know I can - because I have. Obviously, if things do take a turn for the worse, I'll force myself to slow down. Until then though full speed ahead.

Hopefully, as things get going, I'll be better about posting things that are going on in my poker world.

See y'all later.

You get the award for best record keeping.....down to the penny!

? Where did I say I got $2500/month?

I said I took 5th in a tourney to give myself $2400+ - but that was just one month. I've made ~$10k over the last 3 years - but that doesn't come close to $2500/month... anyway - depleting my roll was required - it was a choice between that and losing my house. I'll take the house...

As to Ice - well wiseass - its all in a computer - so I might as well keep it to the penny. Heck once I get everything updated from the "slow-down" period plus the last few weeks - I'll be back to my old self of dizzying statistics...

I've been going over my past performance, mostly leading up to the break I took. I had a very bad losing month of December. I don't have the numbers in front of me - but I suspect it is in the order of ~$1200.

Anyway - the month of January say me progress from a bankroll of $80 up to $210. All things considered, a good month. On the 1st of February - I managed a 1st place finish in a $11 27 player SNG - for a net profit of $89 - pushing me almost to $300.

As I said, I'll be approaching this pretty aggressively - so if I am able to get up to $300 for a couple of days - I'll be moving up to the $20 SNGs for a while.

Just checking in - good luck to everyone.

So I played a little bit of poker last night - 3 9-player $10+1 SNGs and one 18-player $10+1 SNG. I made the money twice, a 2nd and 3rd place finish and netted myself a whopping $1 from it. I did however get presented with a scenario from a friend of mine.

He was playing in a satellite to the main event of the World Series. Top 2 players got the seat and some spending money while 3rd got $900. His total investment was $3.

They were down to 3 and the situation was like this:

Chip Leader 200k+
Player 1 (my friend) 5.4k
Player 2 (other opponent) 1k

Blinds were 2k/4k with an ante (I don't remember the ante). Player 2 is the button, Chip leader is the SB and my friend is the BB.

After posting blind and ante, my friend is down to 1.3k. Button folds and Chip leader does the minimum raise to put my friend all in.

What do you do? You have AQs.

ugh.

i would call. you'll have to play his hand or the next one for the seat, and this is the best hand you can expect. if you take it down, the other short stack has to dodge a lot of bullets.

it IS possible, if you can count on big stack putting you both in, to wait for the next hand. if the two small stacks go out on the same hand, then you get the seat with the slightly larger stack.

Call. You need to have chips over the other shortie so if he sucks out then you're not in the position that he just was. Gotta take the shot with what's likely the favorite.

I'll get back to the hand question in just a minute.

First of all, the last couple of SNGs I have played have sucked. 6 in a row right now without a cashing spot, so I'm not back below $100.

Back to the hand. Now - I don't think this is clear cut - so opinions and mileage may vary. Here's how it was explained to me (for the purposes of this, I will use the first person to describe my friend's hands):

1. In the current hand, if "I" call and win - I have moved slightly up in chips (enough to last 4-5 hands or so). Let's be generous and say I win on a call 60% of the time. 40% of the time - I lose and get $900.

2. In the current hand, if I fold - both the other short stack and myself are all in. In that case, with truly random hands, we each have equal equity - 33% to win the hand.

However, the only one I care about is the shortest stack. If I have his hand beat - then I get the seat; but if the chip leader has him beat - that's fine too. In other words 67% of the time - no matter what the cards are - I come out with a seat here.

So what it comes down to is this. How often is the AQ going to have 67% equity over the current pot (and to continue on beyond that hand)? If I win with the AQ, then I would likely fold on the following hand, which means the shortest stack only has a 50% chance of getting knocked out on the second hand.

I've done a poor job explaining it - but I think the central argument is there.

oh - and to respond to the question Kuso asked - yes - the chip leader will always put both players in (this is a trend that had shown itself since they got down to 3 players).

I think you fold here as long as your remaining chips are greater than the other short stack for the reasons you stated. if somehow the short stack wins the next hand but you beat the big stack you would also still have some chips left and the button for the following hand where the small blind would likely be all in again. It is a pretty clear fold in my opinion.