FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006

Lost $0.82 tonight. The software was very very slow tonight so I didn't really feel like playing much. Last night I didn't play NL but tried my hand at some Omaha Hi over on Party Poker with a small balance I have/had sitting over there from my SNG days and my dabbling around a couple of weeks ago. It was fun. I did pretty well for my first time, I think. BUT, my mainstay is NL ring, so I probably won't play more than once a week - a nice break from the grind though. Got caught a couple of times trying to be aggressive, but my big setback pot for the night was a classic suckout...oh well, good for him. Made a couple of seats open up with a couple of QQ hands as well, so not all bad news tonight.

Sets 1-8
AA: 0
KK: 0
QQ: 2


Tables played: 2 full ring
Time played: 1.8 hours
Profit for day: ($0.82)
Bankroll as of 3/17/06: $405.21

Countdown to $25 NL: $94.79

SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2006

Won $19.92 tonight, thanks to a good run of cards and some "weaker" opponents willing to donate their stacks on bad bluffs and such. Lost about half a stack on the very first hand when my two pair ran into a flopped straight, but no big blunders other than that. I can't complain - I feel quite confident about my game lately and am also confident that I'll meet up with success at $25 NL after a brief adjustment period. I think I'm going to stick with UB for the forseeable future, I plan to get aggressive with adding tables soon, and I really like the "mini-view". Also, I think I've gotten the hang of beating up on the weak-tight games at a decent clip.

Sets 2-11
AA: 2
KK: 1
QQ: 5


Tables played: 2 full ring
Time played: 3 hours
Profit for day: $19.92
Bankroll as of 3/18/06: $425.13

Countdown to $25 NL: $74.87

SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2006

Won $16.70 tonight. Hit some nice hands and got pretty good value out of most all of them, including a big win with a set. Ran into a little bad luck late when my KK ran into AA, but luckily my opponent didn't have a big stack - we both got it in PF. Also flopped quads tonight, but didn't get any action. Another nice win today, though I did make a couple of donktasitc calls on the end - once with low trips vs. obvious higher trips and another with a rag two pair I got in the BB vs. a caught straight.

Sets 2-21 (one being the quads mentioned above actually, so really only 1)
AA: 1
KK: 1 (lost vs. AA as noted above)
QQ: 3


Tables played: 2 full ring
Time played: 4.3 hours
Profit for day: $16.70
Bankroll as of 3/19/06: $441.83

Countdown to $25 NL: $58.17

WEEK ENDING MARCH 19, 2006

Overall a great week of poker. My resolution to be more aggressive after the flop has paid off well so far. For the most part I am finding it easier and easier to know when I'm second best and also finding it easier to find the fortitude to fold a good second best hand (though it's never easy, and that's one thing IMO that's one of the toughest things to learn how to do). Also been doing well at not folding the best hand either, especially aganist short stacks - have been caught once or twice, but for most part I'm been pretty accurate at snapping off what appear to be obvious bluffs.

I think I mentioned this already, but I think at least for the time being, I'm going to stick around at UB. I'm quite comfortable with the opposition there, and unless there's a drastic increase in skill at $25 NL (highly doubtful, but don't want to be too overconfident), I see no good reason to migrate for the time being. I have plenty of bonus to clear.

2 tables
6 days play

Net profit for week: $71.39

Bankroll as of 3/19/06: $441.83

Emoticon of the Week:

MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2006

Won $21.54 tonight. A great start to the week - got a bunch of big pairs and for the most part was able to capitalize on them. Hit one key set, and also walked away with a nice win on that hand as well. Add in a couple of nice steals from the weak tighties, subtract one brain fart for calling minibets to the river with unimproved AQ, and you get a nice, solid grinder's session.

Sets 1-9
AA: 4
KK: 1
QQ: 2


Tables played: 2 full ring
Time played: 2 hours
Profit for day: $21.54
Bankroll as of 3/20/06: $463.37

Countdown to $25 NL: $36.63

TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2006

Won $21.70 tonight. Dare I jinx myself, but the heater continues. Got fairly good cards and plenty of bad players to help my cause - won HUGE with a set tonight - donkey bluffed off about 13 bucks with third pair...made one unremarkable play...went too far with QQ on an 886 flop...I bet pot, villian raised, I moved in - he had 66 and flopped the boat..I didn't improve. He could have had 99, 10-10, or JJ, but somehow I knew I was beat. Yikes. I've made worse calls though. Cost me about $7 there.

Sets 1-11
AA: 3
KK: 2
QQ: 1 (see above)


Tables played: 2 full ring
Time played: 2.2 hours
Profit for day: $21.70
Bankroll as of 3/21/06: $485.07

Countdown to $25 NL: $14.93

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2006

Won $22.14 tonight. If you've been following my adventures, you know what this means...........I made it!!!!!!!!! $25 NL here I come! Yea yea I know it's only $25 NL and some of you guys play pots bigger than my entire bankroll, but I feel like I've really accomplished something given the fact that a few short months ago I was just another "lose, rebuy, lose" fish donating my money away night after night. I plan on taking tomorrow off from poker completely - no games, no railbirding, no TV shows, no books, and oh my...no BTP visits tomorrow (everyone please keep your heads up, Runner_Runner will be back Friday ).

Sets 1-12
AA: 2
KK: 1
QQ: 1


Tables played: 2 full ring
Time played: 2 hours
Profit for day: $22.14
Bankroll as of 3/22/06: $507.21

See my special entry, next.

Dude . . .Congratulations. That is awesome. I look forward to reading about 100, 200, and 400 in the comming months.

Congrats again.

$10 NL

Firstly, I would like to say a sincere thank you everyone for showing me the ropes with your reviews of my hands and encouragement along the way- I'm sure I'll have plenty more for you all to look at as time goes on. I hope I've been adding something to this forum, and am confident that my analysis of others' hand will continue to get better as time goes on. I think it's improved a lot. LOL

As expected, I met up with success at $10 NL. And also as expected, I've grown a great deal overall with respect to my game. Coming in to $10 NL, I think I was over-anxious to start beating the tables at my $2 NL numbers of 30PTBB/100 like I did the $2 games. Well, it didn't happen (at least not right away)...it took awhile for me to get adjusted to the weak-tight style vs. the loose-stupid style that was prevalent at the $2 games. I had a downswing of about 3.5 buy-ins at one point, and was actually dreading the idea of moving down. But, I overcame it, and began to make some adjustments - the results: I've been crushing this game at a not too shabby rate of 35+ PTBB/100 over the last two weeks. I really don't want to sound like a bragger, because anyone with a brain can beat $10 NL, but I've done very well lately.

Looking forward, I've learned not to expect great things right out of the gate - I'm prepared to win very slowly starting out and will probably take a couple of sessions on the chin while I'm getting used to the new stakes, raises, etc. But I'm sure that as soon as I learn the UB $25 NL style, I'll again be doing well - maybe not 35PTBB/100 well, but well enough to have full confidence to move up to $50 NL when my bankroll is ready, which will be when it's $1,000.

I hope you're enjoying reading my journal, I plan on continuing it!

-RR

The new hotness.

Congrats.

-J