Well, I've started playing more seriously now and I'm "in" the Party Poker $100 challenge, so might as well journal it. For now, we'll just cover the PP Challenge.

This will really be the third installment...

Day 1, I deposited $75, played 1 table for about 30 minutes until dinner time, and walked away with a hair over $100.

Day 2, I ran 4 tables, then 3, then 2, and walked away with around $107. Couldn't catch a card for anything.

Day 3

Playtime: 1:45
Mood: Good at the start, Tired at the end
Party BR: $107 -> $136.40
PT Stats: Hands: 416 VP$IP: 17.31% BB/100: 16.20 PFA: 2.94

Bought in to three tables. One was going dismally bad so I closed it. No compelling hands to post, one extreme fish. I was planning to play 2-3 hours, but I got really tired for some reason, so I stopped early. Playing tired is a sure-fire way for me to lose all my chips.

Now I've got the WSOP web-cast running. Not sure who I'm rooting for, probably the classy Irishman I referenced in other threads (no names, because no spoiler warning). It'll be interesting to hear these 4 pros talk through the action.

Session 4

Playtime: 2:00
Mood: Good at the start, Pissed at my wife at the end
Party BR: $138 -> $131
PT Stats: Hands: 608 VP$IP: 18.26% BB/100: 12.58 PFA: 3.33

Started up with 3 tables. Did OK for the most part, just wasn't catching any hands. Wife kept coming in my den to bug me. Should have stopped as soon as she started that crap. Maybe I need a lock on my door.

How do you guys deal with this? Hell, I spent the whole damn morning shopping with her and she still can't leave me be for two hours...

Women are just a pain in the ass, no matter which way you spin it... I usually wait till she goes to sleep, then play... Also, I play a lot live, and just promise to buy her something (ie... get her nails done, shirt, some crap like that) if I win a lot... That seems to work for me... She still bitches constantly, but I can usually say something like "nails" and get her to shut up long enough to let me breathe...

Normally, my advice is DON'T GET MARRIED... But, since I'm obviously too late for that, I hope that helps...

And, if all else fails, they usually can't tell when you slip a little Nyquil in their soda...

MVP, this is all excellent advice.

I think promising to spend the winnings on her will definitely get her off your sack. In fact, I'm going to start using that one more often. I mean shit, we're just sitting around, watching TV, who cares if I spend the whole day on the computer.

And you went shopping with her?! Damn!! That should earn you some free time for shizzle. Make sure you communicate that shopping sucks balls and you are doing her a favor by going.

If all else fails, kick her ass.

Session 5

Playtime: 2:00
Tables: 3x Party $25NL
Mood: Good, good, good.
Party BR: $131 -> $193 (includes $38 deposit bonus)
PT Stats: Hands: 901 VP$IP: 19.31% BB/100: 14.02 PFA: 3.73

(Can anyone suggest any other stats to track?)

Had Falaffel King for lunch today. Falaffel King is a storefront Middle-Eastern carry-out place. The food tastes oh-so-good, but its impact is usually very, very bad. Impact ranges from heavy garlic / onion breath to needing 9 grand to wipe your ass later. Fortunately enough for me (and less so for my wife) my only take-home was the garlic breath. Dunno how that really impacts my play, save for I'm in a good mood (good food) and my wife ain't bugging me for a change.

Started out bad. By bad, I mean really bad. By really bad, I mean down 1 buy-in between 3 tables before the first round of the button was over. Complete lack of patience and discipline. Once I got my head under control, I did really well.

Maybe I'll do some push-ups once my wife is around (so she can call 911 if need be).

In any event, interesting hands as follows:


Quads!!!

Hero $34

Hero in MP3 w/ [5c]
3 folds, Hero calls .25, 2 folds, CO ($12) calls .25, Button ($29) calls .25, SB ($11) completes, BB ($34) checks.

Flop ($1.25) [Jd][5h]

SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 1.00, CO folds, Button calls 1.00, SB folds, BB folds

Turn ($3.25)

Hero bets 3.00 (should I have checked?), Button pushes in 4.39 (Guess it didn't matter), Hero calls

River ($12.03)

Button had...? (white ->) Ah, Td



Bustin' a Rock's Aces

Hero $37
Rock $24

Hero in SB with [4s]

3 folds, Rock calls .25 (Note the slow-play), Hero completes, BB checks

Flop ($1.00) [Qd][3h]

Hero bets 1.00, BB folds, Rock calls 1.00

Turn ($3.00)

Hero bets 3.00, Rock raises to 6.00 (At this point I was confused, but no way I give credit for str8 with only 3 on board), Hero raises to 20.00 (Meant to put him in; did math badly), Rock pushes in $22.35, Hero calls

River ($47.70)

Rock had...? (white ->) As, Ad



Burned by da Bomb

PT said the player was LAA. He played way too many hands. I figured I had him.

Hero $25
Bomb $25

Hero on Button w/ [9h]

4 folds, Hero calls .25 (Shoulda folded, I know), Bomb in SB completes, Button checks

Flop (0.75) [Js][6c]

Bomb bets .75 (Typical continuation bet for him, he probably has nothing), BB folds, Hero raises to 1.50, Bomb calls

Turn ($3.75)

Bomb bets 2.00, Hero raises to 9.00, Bomb calls 9.00

River

Bomb checks, Hero checks (Should I have bet? 4 to a straight on board now.)

Bomb has...? (white ->) Jc, Ts



In any event...

I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.
I shall endeavour to play with more patience.

I think I get the picture... Yes, I typed it all.

And now for the off-topic...

Yeah, we watch a lot of poker on TV. It's cool to see how the pro's play it. You have to wonder what they're thinking at times... gotta be plays they set up against each other over and over again.

Anyway, she keeps asking me if I can beat the WSOP and take home $5 mil, $7.5 mil, whatever it is next year. Once I'm done laughing and I've put my ass back on, I explain to her that I'm probably going to need YEARS of experience to even think about competing, and probably YEARS more before I'm willing to pony up the cash to buy-in (or capable of winning a satellite to get in). And by then, my odds will be between 1:30,000 and 1:1,000,000.

But then I go on to explain that I've hard of good players generating a very nice revenue stream from Poker, enough to do things like invest more so we can retire earlier and take some nice vacations at the same time.

BUT SHE HAS TO LEAVE ME THE *CENSORED* ALONE TO PRACTICE AND BUILD MY ROLL!!!!

*ahem*

OK, back to your regularly scheduled aquarium visit... please don't feed the sharks. But you can feed the fish (that'd be me)

Sorry if this is too far off topic, but here is the idea I have kicking around in my head about the WSOP.

There are four smaller events at the wsop that I want to play next year. I figure it like this, go to the Rio, have the money for two of the games I want to play the most as well and extra for cash games. Should I do well in cash games attempt to satellite into the other smaller tournaments I'm less interested in playing. If I have a stellar performance playing cash games or a decent money place in any of the smaller tournaments consider playing super satellites or directly buying into the main event if I haven't qualified online. I'm also pretty set on the path I want to take with online qualifiers for the main event next spring and how to attempt to only risk $400-$600 or so on making the main event by properly managing W$ at Stars and a few higher expectation tournaments at other sites, where either the prizes are more bountiful in a single game or the prize is enhanced in someway to make it more valuable. Something to think about anyways and there is a whole year for pondering and ironing out the kinks.

Give it some due consideration on how you want to approach next year now, and you will be in great shape mentally for making your play when the time comes.

I guarantee I won't be anywhere near the WSOP next year, unless I win my way in via cheap tourney. I keep hearing about guys who've been playing 6 or 18 months and go far... but I doubt that's me.

Sounds like a nice plan for you though. Good luck with it!

Session 6

Playtime: 4:30
Tables: 3x Party $50NL (for 10 minutes) then 1x Party $25NL
Mood: then then
Party BR: $193 -> $109
PT Stats (NL25): Hands: 1,205 VP$IP: 18.84% BB/100: 15.90 PFA: 3.39
PT Stats (NL50): Hands: 26 VP$IP: 30.77% BB/100: -432.69 PFA: 3.50


Oh My Gawd. It's incredible how quickly you can give back winnings with a suckout, a really bad call, and playing more hands more aggressively than you should. The really bad call? My JJ vs. his KK. We got in on the flop, which was rags.

So, after giving back way too much of my winnings, I shut the damn thing down and went over to Prima to play some limit. Get my head back on straight. After 45 minutes of solid play at limit, I opened up one NL $25 table and vowed to play with patience and trickiness. A couple rounds of the button later, I doubled up taking my set up against a flush draw. Meantime, I made some nice cash on the Prima tables I had going. Ah, better!

Still have a long way to go to get my money back though.

I guess I need to remember I don't really have the roll for the stakes I'm playing at Party. I need to keep away from marginal decisions - keep the variance under control.

Yeah, I've seen that too. But you don't know if they have top pair weak kicker or they've flopped the nut straight. Most of 'em could literally have any two cards, even with a 4-6x raise preflop.

So maybe it's just patience...

In any event, no poker for me tonight, I've already decided. I need to mow the lawn, then I need to read Harrington's second book and ToP.

Session 7

Playtime: 1:00
Tables: 3x Party $25NL
Mood: Good, then bored.
Party BR: $109 -> $155
PT Stats (NL25): Hands: 1,320 VP$IP: 19.02% BB/100: 21.49 PFA: 3.42

Ah yes, wait longer and for better hands before getting into the fray. Well, not longer, but for better hands.

Seeking comments on my VP$IP and PFA scores. I believe the PFA is good (anything over 2 is good, yes?). VP$IP, I think I'm playing too tight?

Select hands for review below. I had to make two laydowns after large PF bets. I hate doing that (as evidenced on the KK hand), but I need to learn to believe they have aces here, I think.


He's got an ace, right?

BP has $62.25
Villain has $16 (No PT stats yet, seems decent)

BP in BB with [Ks]
UTG calls 0.25, UTG +1 calls, Villain calls, 1 fold, MP3 calls, CO calls, Button calls, SB folds, BP raises to 2.00, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, Villain calls, MP3 folds, CO calls, Button folds.

Flop ($8.85) [As][4s]

BP (Rats, an Ace.) checks, MP1 checks, Villain bets 3.00, CO calls, BP calls (Mistake?), MP1 folds.

Turn ($17.85)

BP checks, Villain pushes in for 10.75, CO folds, BP folds.


I sure hope that was a good lay-down...


Party never ceases to amaze me...

BP has $24.50
Villain has $28.38 (25 hands, LPA - VP$IP 52.00, PFA 2.33, W$SD 33%, BB/100 -103)

BP UTG with [Ks]

BP raises to 1.00, 2 folds, MP2 calls, MP3 folds, Villain calls, folds through BB

Flop ($3.35) [8h][Ad]

BP bets 2.00, MP2 folds, Villain raises to 4.00, BP calls (Should I have re-raised / pushed here?)

Turn (11.35)

BP bets 5.00, Villain calls

River (21.35)

BP pushes in 14.50 )(Bad move?), Villain calls

Results (white)
Villain doesn't show Ah, Jh

Session 8

Playtime: 1:00
Tables: 3x Party $25NL
Mood: Good
Party BR: $155 -> $172
PT Stats (NL25): Hands: 1,489 VP$IP: 19.81% BB/100: 21.26 PFA: 3.43

Should I have folded earlier?

Put in a decent raise with pocket queens. Flop wasn't fun, but I was getting odds to call, I think? Turn, same thing - it improved my hand and I was getting odds.

BP has $31
Rock (VP$IP 21%, PFR 1%, PFA 0.80, W$SD 100%) has $30

BP in MP3 w/ [Qd]

UTG folds, UTG+1 (calling station) raises to .50, MP1 (rock, above) calls, MP2 calls, BP raises to 2.00, CO folds, Button (no read, $9) calls, SB (loose, $16) calls, BB folds, UTG+1 calls, Rock calls, MP2 calls.

Flop ($12.25) [Ad][5c]

SB checks, UTG+1 bets 1.00, Rock calls, MP3 calls, BP calls (Should have raised, I think... Raise or Fold, only options with this flop and this hand), Button calls, SB raises to 3.00, UTG+1 calls, Rock calls, MP3 folds, BP calls (Again with the call. Pot=$24, Call=$2, Pot odds=12-1, Odds of hitting a Q on Turn=45-2 or 22.5-1, but I figured to stack 2 if I hit a Q), Button folds.

Turn ($26.25)

SB checks, UTG+1 bets 1.00, Rock calls 1.00, BP calls (Now I can only hope for str8. Odds=42-4 or about 10-1, pot's giving me 28-1, mandatory call, maybe raise, but I figure with this many in, I'm beaten already so the only reason to call is the odds I'm getting), SB calls.

River ($30.25)

SB checks, UTG+1 bets 1.00, Rock raises to 4.00, BP finally folds, SB folds, UTG+1 calls.

Results:
UTG+1 doesn't show [5d] for busted flush draw
Rock shows [Td] for the nut straight